Welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread.

I'm Elisa Morgan, and I titled Our Reading, Fast Food Encouragement.

Maria carried her fast food lunch to an empty table.

As she bit into her burger, her eyes locked on those of a young man

seated several tables away. His clothes were soiled. His hair hung limply, and he clutched an empty

paper cup. Clearly, he was hungry. How could she help? A gift of cash seemed unwise. If she bought a meal and presented

it to him, might he be embarrassed? Just then Maria remembered the story of Ruth, where Boaz,

a wealthy landowner, invited the impoverished immigrant widow to glean from his fields. In Ruth Chapter 2, he ordered his men,

let her gather among the sheaves and don't reprimand her, even pull out some stocks for her from

the bundles and leave them for her to pick up, and don't rebuke her. In a culture where women were

utterly dependent on their connection to men for survival,

Boaz demonstrated God's loving provision.

Eventually, Boaz married Ruth, redeeming her from her serious need.

As Maria rose to leave, she placed her untouched packet of fries on a nearby table, meeting the man's

eyes as she did so. If he was hungry, he might glean from her fast food field. God's heart

is revealed in the stories of Scripture as they illustrate creative solutions to encourage

others.

Today's our Daily Bread Devotional Scripture reading is from Ruth Chapter 2,

verses 15 through 20.

As she got up to Glean, Boaz gave orders to his men. Let her gather among the sheaves and don't reprimand her, even pull out some stocks for her from the bundles and leave them for her to pick up,

and don't rebuke her. So Ruth gleaned in the field until evening, and then she threshed the barley

she had gathered and it amounted to about an

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