Spurgeon: August PM
* 08/02/PM
"So she gleaned in the field until even."
--Ruth 2:17
Let me learn from Ruth, the gleaner. As she went out to
gather the ears of corn, so must I go forth into the fields of
prayer, meditation, the ordinances, and hearing the word to
gather spiritual food. The gleaner gathers her portion ear by
ear ; her gains are little by little: so must I be content to
search for single truths, if there be no greater plenty of them.
Every ear helps to make a bundle, and every gospel lesson
assists in making us wise unto salvation. The gleaner keeps her
eyes open : if she stumbled among the stubble in a dream, she
would have no load to carry home rejoicingly at eventide. I must
be watchful in religious exercises lest they become unprofitable
to me; I fear I have lost much already--O that I may rightly
estimate my opportunities, and glean with greater diligence.
The gleaner stoops for all she finds , and so must I. High
spirits criticize and object, but lowly minds glean and receive
benefit. A humble heart is a great help towards profitably
hearing the gospel. The engrafted soul-saving word is not
received except with meekness. A stiff back makes a bad gleaner;
down, master pride, thou art a vile robber, not to be endured
for a moment. What the gleaner gathers she holds : if she
dropped one ear to find another, the result of her day's work
would be but scant; she is as careful to retain as to obtain,
and so at last her gains are great. How often do I forget all
that I hear; the second truth pushes the first out of my head,
and so my reading and hearing end in much ado about nothing! Do
I feel duly the importance of storing up the truth? A hungry
belly makes the gleaner wise; if there be no corn in her hand,
there will be no bread on her table; she labours under the sense
of necessity, and hence her tread is nimble and her grasp is
firm; I have even a greater necessity, Lord, help me to feel it,
that it may urge me onward to glean in fields which yield so
plenteous a reward to diligence.