"I'm going out to glean among the sheaves." Ruth 2:2
This is one of the most significant decisions in the Old Testament.
Let me explain.
As I read the book of Ruth this morning I was so impacted by Ruth's willingness to glean. Gleaning was good old-fashioned manual labor: gathering leftover crops after a field had already been harvested. In a sense, it was the ancient welfare system. But it wasn't a free hand-out. It was back-breaking work. And it took a spirit of humility. There was nothing glamorous about gleaning. But Ruth was willing to do it.
Can I borrow that metaphor? Leaders are gleaners. They glean everything they can from everyone they can! It harkens back to something that has been attributed to everyone from Ben Franklin to Thomas Carlye to Ralph Waldo Emerson. I'm not sure who said it first, but it's such good advice: "Every man is my superior in some way, in that I learn of him."
Back to Ruth.
You know the rest of the story. Boaz sees that Ruth has been working since sun up. Some people are attracted to people because of their personality or their physique. For Boaz, it was Ruth's work ethic. Long story short, they fall in love, get married, and live happily ever after. Oh yeah, and her Great Grandson, a shepherd named David, becomes King of Israel.
Here's how I see it: David owes His existence to a Great Grandmother that was willing to glean. Those who glean will one day rule kingdoms. Or their Great Grandchildren will.
Glean everything you can from everyone you can!
This is one of the most significant decisions in the Old Testament.
Let me explain.
As I read the book of Ruth this morning I was so impacted by Ruth's willingness to glean. Gleaning was good old-fashioned manual labor: gathering leftover crops after a field had already been harvested. In a sense, it was the ancient welfare system. But it wasn't a free hand-out. It was back-breaking work. And it took a spirit of humility. There was nothing glamorous about gleaning. But Ruth was willing to do it.
Can I borrow that metaphor? Leaders are gleaners. They glean everything they can from everyone they can! It harkens back to something that has been attributed to everyone from Ben Franklin to Thomas Carlye to Ralph Waldo Emerson. I'm not sure who said it first, but it's such good advice: "Every man is my superior in some way, in that I learn of him."
Back to Ruth.
You know the rest of the story. Boaz sees that Ruth has been working since sun up. Some people are attracted to people because of their personality or their physique. For Boaz, it was Ruth's work ethic. Long story short, they fall in love, get married, and live happily ever after. Oh yeah, and her Great Grandson, a shepherd named David, becomes King of Israel.
Here's how I see it: David owes His existence to a Great Grandmother that was willing to glean. Those who glean will one day rule kingdoms. Or their Great Grandchildren will.
Glean everything you can from everyone you can!
7 Comments:
I always love this passage to support "tithing" capital campaigns. If we gather money for something let's leave/give the corners to someone less fortunate.
Amen! This concept has been so meaningful for me. I am so young as a believer, but keep being put in influential situations that seem to be above me hear. The only thing that allows me to not be completely over my head are the countless people who have invested in me for the Kingdon, and the eye that God has given me to learn from all people all the time. Praise God. Sometimes it is incredibly humbling which doesn't always feel good, but God will give you the discernment if you are willing to seek Him and listen to what the Spirit has to say at all times. This is encouraging for me, Pastor Mark. So true!
Good insight Mark. I think it's also important as leaders to not only glean from others, but to use our influence capital to help emerging young leaders glean from the people in our relational networks. We have such great opportunities to serve as "connectors"--ultimately sponsoring those we coach and mentor into other relationships where they can glean beyond our experience and tap the expertise of our relationships. I actually blogged about that this morning: http://bit.ly/CvJpZ
My grandmother was a sharecropper...& it's because of her that I have the opportunities I have today...even to be a leader of influence.
i love Ruth. i think there are some many things that can be found there. as i watch many of my peers struggle through the early parts of their working careers and feeling like they are under appreciated or under utilized or under honored, its Ruth that reminds me that we must go and "glean the fields" before we can ever reach the heights God has for us. it reminds me of being faithful in a little and the master will trust you with a lot. entitlement is a lie set to trip us up and we must be willing to to do the "gleanning" if we are ever to receive all the blessings God has for us professionally.
Wonderful challenge Mark! Its a call to growth and a call to see others as true Image-bearers through the lenses of humilty. Everybody is an expert in something!
Her more distant relative was Jesus!
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