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Family Influence

From Open Windows Devotional, Lifeway, April 2016

Family Influences

Devotional Passage:

Ruth 1:16-17

Read the Bible Through:

Ruth 1-2
Luke 4:33-34

And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me. Ruth 1:16-17

Is this a wedding passage? No, this is said to Naomi by her daughter-in-law. Why did Ruth state this when Orpah did not?

Naomi and her family had gone to ungodly Moab during a time of famine. Naomi’s sons had married Moabite wives. Orpah went back to her family, country and false religion but Ruth pledged her life not just to Naomi but her God.

Do we understand the importance of our testimonies on our families? Naomi’s family influenced Ruth to the extent that she left all to follow Naomi and more importantly Naomi’s God. No family is perfect even Naomi had one of her daughter-in-laws go back. But her influence on a young widow who would become a great-great grandmother of the Messiah!

Father, we pray for our families and our influence on them. May they see Jesus in our lives!

Key Words: Family, Influence, Gospel, love