COMPROMISE

Now they came to the fields of Moab and remained there.  Ruth 1:2b

In the beginning it seemed like a perfectly logical move for him. After all, there was a famine in the land and Elimelech had to care for his wife and two sons. Very likely from the steps of his house he could look across the Dead Sea and see the land of Moab. Everything over there looked better. So why not make the move? It didn’t need to be for a long time, just a little while. But little things soon become big things. In verse 1 they sojourn – just a short visit. In verse 2 they had “entered” and “remained”. By the time you reach verse 4 they have lived there 10 years!

But was this “little” compromise really such a big deal? Well consider. By leaving Judah, instead of enjoying the fellowship of God’s people he now is surrounded by a pagan culture. By leaving Judah, Elimelech lost his land - by the end of the book it is owned by Boaz. By leaving, Elimelech lost the privilege of being in the line of King David and Jesus. No matter how you look at it, he made a bad decision. It’s even interesting to note that despite God being mentioned twenty-four times in the short book of Ruth, He is never even mentioned once in these verses which describe Elimelech’s compromise. The implication is that God was never part of his thinking.

Compromise always hurts. You might think “It’s just one night” or “It’s just one sip” or even “One click of the mouse won’t hurt”. Maybe you justify your actions by thinking “God won’t see” or “I can always fix it later. After all, doesn’t God forgive?” Don’t believe those lies. Elimelech did, and because of that he died having never returned to Judah.

Philip Moeller