“I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!” When Patrick Henry made that plea, urging his fellow Virginians to cast their lot with the revolutionaries, it was serious business. Many of them, in fact, got death. In contrast, today’s politicians calculate each word based on opinion polls. They don’t fear death so much as they fear failing to get reelected. Henry, though, believed some things are worth dying for – and some people worth dying with.

Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.

Ruth 1:16

Ruth is an enigmatic little book of Scripture. Theologians disagree about what message it is trying to convey. But it contains perhaps the most beautiful declaration in all of literature. Naomi, a widow, urges her daughter-in-law Ruth, also widowed, to return to her own family to find another husband. In that day, a woman without a husband lacked the means to survive. But Ruth pledged her loyalty to Naomi. She prayed God would allow nothing short of death to separate them.

Who would you die for? What would you die for? As you pray today, may you – and America’s leaders – be driven not by convenience, but by Godly conviction.

Recommended Reading: Romans 6:5-11