Food for our faith - All The Good Seed Daily Devotionals for 2026

She (Ruth) gleaned in the field until evening, and beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. Then she took it up and went into the city.
Ruth 2:17.18

Food for our faith
During the harvest Ruth gleaned ears of barley on the field of Boaz, so that she and her mother-in-law Naomi had the food they needed. This activity illustrates how we believers should obtain the necessary spiritual food when the Word of God is preached.

Ruth had to bend down many times in the course of the day in order to gather the separate ears. Similarly, when we hear the Word, attention and commitment are equally important. Perhaps we take down notes, so that we can impress on our minds the content and meaning of the biblical text.

In the evening Ruth threshed out the ears, because she wanted to take no more than the barley; the straw and the chaff she left in the field. This means for us: "Test all things; hold fast what is good" (1 Thessalonians 5, 21). Not everything that is preached is spiritual food. Examples from daily life are often mentioned (straw and chaff) to clarify the Word of God. We need to take only what edifies from the preaching.

Ruth took all the barley she had gathered and went into the city. Even this has its significance for us: the Word settles in our hearts, and as we go about our daily life, it has a positive effect. Perhaps the Lord gave us a word from the Bible on Sunday that helps us to make right decisions in the course of the week, or to solve a problem according to God's mind.

Today's reading: Psalm 102