I was listening to the book of Ruth the other day, and one little phrase stopped me cold:
“She gleaned in the wake of the harvesters.” (Ruth 2:3, MSG)
That word — glean — caught me. Not just because of the action it describes, but because of the posture behind it.
Ruth didn’t start in the spotlight. She wasn’t leading the way or shaping the future (yet). She was walking behind, picking up what others left behind. She wasn’t planting, she wasn’t harvesting — she was gathering scraps. And yet, that’s the very place where God met her. Where her story began to change forever.
And I realized: that’s what I do with ideas.
I’m not always the harvester. I’m often the gleaner.
I pick up dropped thoughts. Leftover quotes. Forgotten sparks.
Things others overlook or step over — those are often the very insights that catch my eye.
A line of Scripture that’s been read a thousand times before — but somehow, today, it glows.
A quote from 300 years ago that makes something click inside of me.
A leaf on the sidewalk that whispers a deeper truth if I slow down long enough to listen.
I don’t always need to break new ground.
Sometimes, I just need to walk behind the harvesters and pay attention.
Gleaning requires being in the wake of someone else’s work.
You can’t glean if you’re not near the field. You can’t catch waves if you’re not in the wake.
Ruth gleaned because someone else had already gone before her. And in the same way, we glean from those who’ve walked ahead — the prophets, the poets, the thinkers, the saints. Especially the authors of Scripture, inspired by God and faithful to record what they saw.
I don’t stand on a blank page. I stand on ancient paths.
Gleaning is humble, hopeful, and holy.
It’s not glamorous. It’s not loud.
But it’s where transformation begins.
Ruth was gathered into the story of redemption while she was gathering scraps.
And maybe that’s what idea stewardship is too.
Not chasing the next trend.
Not building a perfect second brain.
But moving slowly through the field, eyes open, hands ready — picking up what others missed.
A Thought for the Field
What’s something you’ve “gleaned” lately — from Scripture, from life, from someone else’s insight?
What’s a stray sheaf of truth you need to bend down and pick up?
Because sometimes the scraps we gather are the seeds of legacy.
The Shepherd’s Pause
Try this:
Next time you read Scripture or listen to someone teach, ask,
“What’s something here that’s been dropped or overlooked?”
Pick it up. Write it down. Turn it over.
It may just lead you into a field of unexpected favor.
Want to keep learning how to gather ideas from the margins of life?
Check out my Thinking in Analogies guide — a tool to help you glean creatively from everything around you.