The Art of Giving and Gleaning

I have been studying Ruth this week with my FANTASTIC college ladies Bible Study.

Something that really stood out to us this week was the concept of gleaning.

According to Merriam-Webster, to glean is:

to gather grain or other material that is left after the main crop has been gathered.

In Leviticus, God gave His people special instructions to care for the needy in their communities:

In Ruth 2, we see that Ruth is taking advantage of this provision to provide for herself and her mother-in-law. Boaz greatly blessed Ruth and Naomi by obeying this command.

It got me thinking:

How can we honor this concept in our culture today?

We live in a get-as-much-as-you-can society. Even our poor are richer than the average poor worldwide. Aside from the political or sometimes justified misgivings about providing for the poor, we are still commanded to do so.

I fully support taking time off for missions trips and serving inner-city soup kitchens. I think Christ-followers should be eager to do these ministries as well.

Unfortunately, I think many of us give in a “big” way, then check it off our lists. I believe God wants us to incorporate giving, which is part of our worship of him, into our hourly lives.

We need to recognize the art of giving as you go. There is a time and place for grand gestures. But this practice is rather a simple letting-go of our cash, time, or space.

Join me this week to explore some practical ways to leave our cash (money), time, and space, so others can glean from them.

Coming soon: Join the discussion on how to GLEAN with a right attitude.