Above my desk hangs a reproduction of... - All The Good Seed Daily Devotionals for 2026

Please let me go and glean heads of grain after him in whose sight I may find favour.
Ruth 2:2

Above my desk hangs a reproduction of the oil painting “The Gleaners” by Jean-François Millet. It is an image from 1857, depicting three women stooping to gather the scattered ears of grain left in the field. It is a laborious task that causes backaches!

This work, unfamiliar to us today, serves as an illustration for a spiritual activity. The Bible is a wonderful harvest field where we find nourishment for our hearts. The process of gleaning, metaphorically speaking, begins with reading and hearing the Word of God. This is how we obtain something that strengthens our faith from the Bible.

Yet the ears lie on the ground. Without bending down and exerting effort, we achieve nothing. Superficial reading of the Bible and half-hearted listening do not nourish our faith. Additionally, when gleaning, one cannot collect whole sheaves at a time. Each ear must be gathered individually. Perhaps today, in reading the Bible we grasped only one verse. Let’s keep that statement in our hearts! It’s the nourishment that God wants to give us now.

For the gleaner’s sack to be full, she must work persistently. Similarly, understanding the thoughts of God in His Word doesn’t happen overnight. It is necessary for us to read the Bible with perseverance to progressively understand the Word of God better.

Today’s reading: Leviticus 14:33-57 · Psalms 62:1-12