December 17, 2020
When you part company with someone, what do you leave behind? Does the person you left feel better for meeting with you or do they experience no gain from the encounter? Did you smile and leave words of encouragement, wisdom, advice, understanding, empathy, or where the words negative, put-down, I’m unconcerned, you are on your own,
The Book of Ruth tells how Ruth, the Moabite widowed daughter-in-law of Naomi, meets her future husband, Boaz, when she seeks permission to follow the grain reapers in his fields and gather the seed kernels that have fallen to the ground. This method of helping the poor, instituted by God for the very poor to get food. In Leviticus, God said, “When you reap the harvest of your land, you are not to reap to the very edge of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. You must not strip your vineyard bare or gather its fallen grapes. Leave them for the poor and the foreign resident; I am Yahweh your God.” (Leviticus 19:9-10, HCSB)
Ruth was unaware by gleaning in Boaz’s fields to provide food for her and her mother-in-law; she would become an ancestor of Jesus. Today, must keep in mind God’s words, “Don’t you say, there are still four more months, then comes the harvest’? Listen to what I’m telling you: Open your eyes and look at the fields, for they are ready for harvest.” (John 4:35, HCSB)
Christians must remember people often gather bit by bit the thoughts we share from our experience and knowledge fields. We should not forget to cheerfully and generously allow others in need to glean from the blessings we have received. We do well to realize that we have gleaned our blessings through God’s goodness and grace from His abundant fields.