What's the Difference?

As I was reading the book of Ruth the other morning, it struck me that Ruth and her sister-in-law, Orpah, were very similar.  Both married a man who had moved to Moab from Israel.  Both women's husband and father-in-law died.  Both were kind to their mother-in-law, Naomi.  And both vowed to go with their mother-in-law, Naomi, back to Judah.  But there was one very great difference between the two women?  What was it?  Put simply, when Naomi told both of her daughters-in-law for a second time to go back to their own people, Orpah chose to go, but Ruth insisted upon going to Judah with Naomi.  Put simply, Ruth chose to deny herself, not knowing what the future held.  Whereas, Orpah chose what was best for herself.  Jesus once said, "He who seeks to save his life will lose it, but he who loses his life for My sake will find it."  And, truly, we see that play out in Ruth's life, for later in the story, we see Ruth marrying a wealthy, caring man, and becoming the great grandmother of King David.  What is more, she became part of the Messiah's lineage.  Do you think that Orpah would have made a different decision had she known what was at stake? Obviously.  But are you faced with a seemingly simple decision today?  If so, then what will you choose?  Self-denial, like Ruth?  Or self-preservation, like Orpah?  If we could see down time, then I'm sure that we would make more decisions like the one Ruth made to deny herself.  For even though Orpah had no clue what she missed out on, she sure missed out on something special.