Daily Worship

Gleaning

September 18, 2015 0 0

Ruth 2:1-12

Ruth Meets Boaz in the Grain Field

2 Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side, a man of standing from the clan of Elimelek, whose name was Boaz.

2 And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone in whose eyes I find favor.”

Naomi said to her, “Go ahead, my daughter.” 3 So she went out, entered a field and began to glean behind the harvesters. As it turned out, she was working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelek.

4 Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, “The Lordbe with you!”

“The Lord bless you!” they answered.

5 Boaz asked the overseer of his harvesters, “Who does that young woman belong to?”

6 The overseer replied, “She is the Moabite who came back from Moab with Naomi. 7 She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the harvesters.’ She came into the field and has remained here from morning till now, except for a short rest in the shelter.”

8 So Boaz said to Ruth, “My daughter, listen to me. Don’t go and glean in another field and don’t go away from here. Stay here with the women who work for me. 9 Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the women. I have told the men not to lay a hand on you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled.”

10 At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She asked him, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me—a foreigner?”

11 Boaz replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband—how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before.12 May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.”

On the one hand…
Ruth was picking up little pieces
Doing menial work
Life not working out quite as she expected
Having to scrimp and scrape
No one to look out for her
Worrying about the next meal
Reliant on others
Putting pride aside

On the other hand…
It turned out to be the field of Boaz
Who realised her situation
And things took a turn for the better
And she was satisfied and had some left 
And he spoke words of comfort 
And took away her worry 
And she was able to help Naomi
And her pride was restored

Gleaning … more to it than meets the eye,
Don’t you think, God?
And people call it coincidence!
Lord of the harvest, keep me tuned in. Amen