Gleaning

Barclay F. Buxton was the father of Alfred Buxton, one of C. T. Studd's son-in-laws who went with him to the heart of Africa as a missionary. Barclay Buxton was cofounder, with A. Paget Wilkes, of the Japan Evangelistic Band, that remarkable group of missionaries that saw such wonderful works of God in Japan. The following is from chapter seven of Buxton's booklet The Book of Ruth: Its Message for Christians to-day:

"Ruth said unto Naomi:

"Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn."

"Ruth is like an anxious soul in search of truth. All such desire to glean in the Word of God and pick up this or that ear of corn which is nourishment to heart and soul. They search the Scriptures because they want to be nourished and strengthened. As time goes on her gleaning is more and more blessed and prospered. And so will ours be. We shall gain more and more. See this progress in her story.

"(a) Chapter ii. 17, we read:

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

"That is to say, enough for one man for ten days. Exodus xvi. 36. She had gleaned all that, because of the handfuls that had been dropped for her on purpose by the servants of Boaz.

(b) Then she gleans still more, and as she leaves the feet of Boaz, we read in iii. 15:

"Bring the vail that thou hast upon thee, and hold it. And when she held it, he measured six measures of barley, and laid it on her: and she went into the city."

"She goes burdened with blessing into the city. She begins in the second chapter by just gleaning ears of corn, and then she gleans handfuls of purpose at the end of the second chapter. At the end of the third chapter she is taking six measures of barley from the hand of Boaz, and

"(c) In the last chapter, she has no need of gleaning any more, for all that Boaz has is hers; she is one with him.

"Thus would God ever increase our gleaning, making us ever more prosperous and ever the richer, until we know that all that God has is ours.

"Let us day by day glean from His Word, and day by day pick up handfuls that He has dropped on purpose for us, and at times receive from His hand a spiritual gift of His grace, like six measures of barley. Let us spend time over God's Word, and God will make the gleaning ever more and more prosperous and helpful and enriching."