Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Ruth 2:1-3 Now Naomi had a relative on her husband's side, from the clan of Elimelech, a man of standing, whose name was Boaz. And Ruth the Moabitess 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." So she went out and began to glean in the fields behind the harvesters. As it turned out, she found herself working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech.
GLAD TO GET TO WORK
Ruth had gone through some difficult times. Her husband, her father-in-law, and her brother-in-law had all died. She had recently moved from Moab, her home country, to Bethlehem in Judea so she could be with her mother-in-law Naomi. She was in a strange place among people she did not know. But she had also come to know the God of Israel. She had learned that He was a loving and gracious God, abounding in mercy--a God who cared for her every need, through whom even her sins were forgiven on account of a promised Savior. When she saw that barley field, she saw God's love yet again, for there were the grain clusters dropped by the reapers.
She therefore went into the fields to glean without complaining, seeing the blessing and the opportunity that had been set before her.
Could we learn from this? What is our attitude toward our labors? Sometimes, not so healthy. When we face another day of work do we ever say, "I wish I didn't have to do this!"? Do we ever have the urge to call in sick when we are not? How quickly we can forget that our fields of labor are also fields of God's gifts--the places where He provides for our needs. How soon we grumble and complain about our jobs rather than viewing them as avenues through which the LORD gives us so many wonderful things.
Our homes, our cars, our toys--these things come by means of the blessing of work. Even gifts people give us, someone had to work for them. God has given us fields in which to labor and He has given us the strength and ability to labor. Our work is nothing less than evidence of the Creator's care for us. He who loves us in Christ for eternity also showers us with earthly blessings for the day.
