Labour
Ruth 2:17
So she gleaned in the field until even, and beat out that she had gleaned: and it was about an ephah of barley.


I. NO LABOUR IS TOO INSIGNIFICANT FOR LOVE. "So she gleaned." She was of a good family, accustomed to a life of ease and plenty. That which she does now is anything but dignified.

1. A work for the commonest powers.

2. A work for the commonest people.

3. A work whose results bear no comparison to the expenditure of labour.

4. A work in which is redone that which has been considered as done.Men measure the worth of work by its conspicuousness. The real worth of work lies in meeting the necessity for its existence, and the motive which inspires it. Two lives depend upon her toil — then her work has worth; she loves the woman for whom she toils — then her work has dignity. Her love consecrates lowest means for highest ends.

II. NO RESULTS OF LABOUR ARE TOO INSIGNIFICANT FOR CARE. She "beat out that she had gleaned."(S. B. Rees.)



Parallel Verses
KJV: So she gleaned in the field until even, and beat out that she had gleaned: and it was about an ephah of barley.

WEB: So she gleaned in the field until evening; and she beat out that which she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley.




The Refining Art of Doing Good
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