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PROVIDENCE AND THE PROFIT OF DILIGENCE (3)
THURSDAY, JULY 25
Ruth 2:12-17

Proverbs 14:23

 

“The substance of a

diligent man is precious.”

 

PROVIDENCE AND THE PROFIT OF DILIGENCE (3)
 
The meanest of work has its rewards to those who, through diligent commitment, give themselves to honest labour. Ruth is an example of this. We can love and excel even in the commonest or lowest of jobs. The orderings of providence are also such that we have to labour to prepare and use what God has graciously provided. What has been provided can be lost if those who receive it are negligent and lazy. Proverbs presents this in 12:27 when it says, “The slothful man roasteth not that which he took in hunting: but the substance of a diligent man is precious.” There is necessity for active and cooperative obedience to God’s hand of providence, and this is what diligence is.
 
“So she gleaned in the field until even…” (Ruth 2:17). She began in the morning, and continued until even. Probably as long as the reapers were still reaping, there was possibility of gleaning. She worked till even, and after the gleaning was done, there was still some beating to be done. This was unlike the sluggard who goes hunting and comes back successfully with meat, yet fails to prepare it to turn it into a meal. The sluggard is one who has the ability to work but not the will to do so. Ruth, on the other hand, went out willing and diligent, and took upon her the duty and personal responsibility to work, and ensured that what God had graciously provided was profitable.
 
“…and it was about an ephah of barley” (Ruth 2:17). The reward of her day’s labour is recorded for us. She had an ephah of barley. Different parts of the world use different measurement systems. The biblical measurement presented here can be clarified for us by looking at a few verses. An omer is presented as the measure that a man was able to eat in a day (Exod 16:16-22). The omer is also presented as a tenth part of an ephah in Exodus 16:36. Thus, what Ruth had gleaned that day would have been sufficient food to last Ruth and her mother-in-law for 5 days.
 
THOUGHT: (Read Ecclesiastes 9:10 and Romans 12:11.)
PRAYER: Father, grant me obedience to Thy Word, and diligence in all my duties.

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