“Remember the widows and orphans.” God certainly does, and commands us to do the same.

And, since in one sense we are spiritually “widows and orphans” we can learn from one. A poor widow, in times of famine, places her hope in her mother-in-law, simply because her mother-in-law belongs to people of faith, the Israelites.

She declares, “Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may the Lord do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me.”

Not only did God provide her bountiful food and safety, he proved faithful to provide an incredible inheritance that only a handful of people in history can claim: great-grandmother to the king, and part of the lineage of the King of Kings.

Though Ruth was a stranger to the people of God, she became an icon to Israel and to the Church. In these times of spiritual famine, declare like she did, “Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God.” if you don’t know Jesus as your Savior and King, seek Him out. And when you do, join yourself to His people, the Church, for the duration of your time here, and declare “Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may the Lord do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me.”

And once we are joined to Christ and His body and bride, the Church, we need to make sure that we remember our humble origins as an orphan, and that “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”