E53 - Hope’s Harbor Gritty Bible Devotions - Ruth - Her Faithfulness Part 3

Hope’s Harbor

Gritty Bible Devotions

Episode #53

Title: Ruth – Her faithfulness

Date: May 9, 2022

Contact: info@hopesharbor.net

Key verse(s): Ruth 2:2 & 3

Ruth 2:2  – ‘So Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, "Please let me go to the field, and glean heads of grain after him in whose sight I may find favor." And she said to her, "Go, my daughter."’

Ruth 2:3 – ‘Then she left, and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers.’

Intro: In a previous episode, #51, we saw Ruth’s faithfulness to Naomi when she left all she had and knew to go with Naomi. This meant Ruth gave up all she knew and left for a different country, walking a dangerous path to get there.

Now we’ll see Ruth’s faithfulness by looking closely at the words and phrases in the 2 key verses.

Devotion focus: A faithful person will find a way to provide –

In Ruth 2:2 it is Ruth who asks Naomi to be allowed to go work so that they have food. Apparently, Ruth had knowledge of GOD’s requirement that Jews leave the grain standing around the edges of their fields, for the poor to glean.

This practice was ordered by GOD as recorded in Leviticus 19:9 – “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest.” This ensured the poor had a way to find food.

In the next episode, we’ll see what transpired during the day as Ruth gleaned, but for now, this is the result of her efforts – she gathered about 6 gallons of barley.

Without Ruth’s faithfulness to work for her food, she and Naomi would have had 6 gallons less than they ended up with.

Summary: Ruth was a faithful woman and that attribute became evident when time to work, so she and Naomi had food. It is likely some of Naomi’s relatives gave food to the pair after they returned from Moab, but people in those days didn’t support the idle. And besides Ruth’s faithful work to get food, she also gained the attention of the landowner on whose field she gleaned.

Action to consider: What are we doing to provide for ourselves? It doesn’t matter if it’s for food or money to pay for housing and transportation.

Then consider this: Are we working to the best of our abilities?

We’re instructed in Colossians 3:23 – ‘And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men,’

Next week’s devotion: Ruth – Boaz takes note