Conversion

by: Michael Wilcock

You won’t find the words conversion or becoming a Christian in the Old Testament. But I know no finer real-life conversion story than this one about Ruth, Naomi’s Moabite daughter-in-law.

Will Ruth, like Orpah, return to Moab? No. She chooses to go Naomi’s way, the way to Judah. She turns away from her old home. She turns away from her people. She even dares to turn her back on Chemosh, the fearsome, powerful god of the Moabites, to worship Naomi’s God.

Her last words are particularly striking. They could mean “Only death shall part us.” But they could also mean “Not even death shall part us.” Ruth turns completely from her old life to a new life among the people of God.

This is the kind of “turning” Jesus asks of us. Here was a message: Naomi’s God was real and alive even though his ways might be hard to understand. Here was a seeker: Ruth, who in spite of her own very different background wanted to know this God for herself. Bring message and seeker together and conversions happen! Now, don’t pray today’s prayer unless you can do it truthfully.