Thursday, October 5, 2006
Ruth 2:2-3 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.
FIELDS OF LABOR
These days it seems almost "fashionable" for people to grumble about their work. They complain about their bosses, their working conditions, and their salaries. In the midst of all these complaints, they forget what a blessing their labor can be.
When Ruth looked out into the harvest field, she saw that field as God's way of providing for the needs of herself and her mother in law. "Let me go to the fields" she said. We find no indication of complaint nor did she suggest to the LORD that He ought to provide for her in another way.
By means of our work, God can take care of our earthly needs as well. Our fields of labor are fields through which He provides clothing and shoes, food and drink, land, goods, and all we need. Even if the kind of work we do doesn't put a paycheck in our hands directly, God can use it to bring all sorts of blessings to us and others.
Lest you think that the LORD simply sits around while you work, consider that while Ruth was laboring in the harvest field, He was working in that same field! It was among those very sheaves that God led her to Boaz whom she married. Boaz was the great-grandfather of David -- who was the great ancestor of our Lord Jesus Christ.
