I WAS one day, at harvest time, walking through a country lane when I met a little girl a large quantity of corn. I did not need to inquire where she had obtained it, for I knew at once she had been in the fields gleaning after the corn had been cut and bound into sheaves.
She had been diligently gathering up one little ear at a time, till you see what large bundles she is now able to carry home.
There is a story in the Bible of a young woman who went gleaning in a rich man's field. He was a distant relation of hers, and while he was blessed with plenty, she was living in poverty.
I think the young woman found favour in his eyes because she had acted so nobly to her mother-in-law, for she followed her to a strange country, to be near her and attend to her wants.
God had directed that the gleanings of the harvest should be left for the poor and strangers, but this good man was so pleased with Ruth and the way she had acted to her mother-in-law, that he told his men to let some fall on purpose, that the poor stranger might pick them up and so get a larger bundle.