I love the book of Ruth. It’s a story of devotion — Ruth’s devotion to her mother-in-law; Naomi’s devotion to Ruth; Boaz’s devotion to both; and God’s devotion to them all.

When Naomi and her two Moabite daughters-in-law were all widowed in the country of Moab, Naomi determined to return to her hometown in Bethlehem, Judah. Alone.

“Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her.”

But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.” When Naomi realized that…