Let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find favor. Ruth 2:2
Almost every evening my hubby and I lay in our beds with iPhone in hand, gleaning information streaming from our facebook or news feeds. It is our “downtime” entertainment. Sometimes I glean for pleasure and other times for a purpose.
Glean for Nourishment
The book of Ruth is a beautifully written story of redemption. It follows two widows as they journey back to Bethlehem seeking a new life. Ruth was still young and able to glean in the fields. In Biblical times and still today, there are gleaning traditions for the poor. Ruth had faith that she would find favor with a local farmer and be able to glean for their survival. Ruth found much more than favor in the field of Boaz, she found herself a legacy in the lineage of Jesus.
Glean Leftovers
Gleaning is typically considered picking up the last or leftovers from the harvest. To glean, there must be an abundance and a generosity from the owner of the field. “The generosity of the master of the crop determined the value of the gleanings, as the story of Ruth well illustrates (Ruth 2:16). A reaper could easily impose upon the master by leaving too much for the gleaners, who might be his own children.”* God established as a law an allowance of leftovers for the poor. ‘When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. (Lev. 19:9) Ruth’s gleaning led her into the right field and eventually lead her into the arms of her kinsman redeemer, Boaz. He made sure she was well-fed and provisions were made for her during the gleaning process. Ruth gleaned from what Boaz had planted. I am gleaning from the seeds others have planted in my life.
Glean for a Legacy
Today, I am trying to plant seeds that my children can glean from for their future. What I focus on today and allow in my home affects their view of the future. Everyday I pick up my iPhone skimming through hundreds of emails, ads, facebook posts, news articles and youtube videos filled with information to feed my soul. In this age of data gleaning, the shear volume requires me to be a discerning, selective gleaner. What and how much I glean, should be under the authority of the Master in my life. Like Ruth, my gleaning can lead to God’s redemption plan. Through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, I glean His righteousness.
Glean
Nourishment. Leftovers. Legacy.
What am I gleaning? Does it align with the ultimate source?
*Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. “Entry for ‘GLEANING'”. “International Standard Bible Encyclopedia”. 1915.
Photo credit: Lon Vogt