To be fully HUMAN — A Daily Reflection

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."

Israelite law stated that when the owner of a field harvested it, he should not harvest the "edges" or the "corners" (depending on the translation you’re using) and that any grain that was dropped was to be left for the poor and the widows (Leviticus 19:9-10 NIV; 23:22 NIV; Deuteronomy 24:19 NIV).  Ruth knew this and, industrious girl that she was, Ruth went straight to the fields and began to "glean" (the term used to refer to the poor picking up the dropped grain) in order to feed Naomi and herself.

This had to be a demeaning thing for Ruth to do.  After all, she had been married and was probably pretty well fixed financially before she lost her husband.  Now her only way to stay alive was to scrounge around in the fields behind the harvesters and pick up what they dropped.  Ruth could have been too proud to stoop to such a lowly task.  She could have just sat down and joined Naomi in feeling sorry for herself.  She could have said to herself, "Nobody likes me as it is.  How will they look at me if they see me out there with all those poor people?  I can’t be seen doing something so low.  I’ll never be able to look anyone in the eye if I do something like that!"

In today’s economic times, we see two predominate types of reactions in people who lose their jobs.  There’s the man who would let his family starve rather than work at McDonald’s for a while.  So he does nothing, and loses everything.  And then there’s a family I know where the man took a job as a sacker at the grocery and store, and his wife cleaned houses for about six months.  By the way, he’s a chemical engineer by profession, and she was an advertising executive.  Now, they own their own company and are happier than they had ever been before.  The Lord blessed their humility and their willingness to do whatever was necessary to provide for their family by giving them a new business – one that they operate and own themselves.

Jesus set the greatest example of all.  He owns everything.  He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  He holds the highest position in the universe and beyond.  He is both Creator and Redeemer.  The Beginning and the End.  He is everything.  And yet, He placed Himself in the lowliest position possible when He came to earth.  He didn’t have to do it, but He did.

The next time you find yourself in a situation that requires you to do something you might think is "beneath" you in order to achieve a goal, remember Ruth… and remember Jesus.  What are you going to do?