{"id":26462,"date":"2023-05-10T17:51:12","date_gmt":"2023-05-11T00:51:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/gospel-express\/2023-tiredtents-copy\/"},"modified":"2023-05-10T18:37:03","modified_gmt":"2023-05-11T01:37:03","slug":"2023-mentor","status":"publish","type":"portfolio","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/gospel-express\/2023-mentor\/","title":{"rendered":"Unintentional Mentor \uff1aNaomi and Ruth"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"flex_column av_one_full  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding first  avia-builder-el-0  avia-builder-el-no-sibling  \" style='border-radius:0px; '><section class=\"av_textblock_section \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/CreativeWork\" ><div class='avia_textblock  '   itemprop=\"text\" ><p style=\"text-align: right;\">Steven and Deb\u00a0Koster<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-26463 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/naomi-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"536\" height=\"292\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/naomi-1.jpg 536w, https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/naomi-1-300x163.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 536px) 100vw, 536px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Naomi was in foreign territory, physically and emotionally. She lived in a foreign land not by choice but because of famine in her home country. She also suffered the overwhelming loss of her husband and sons there. Naomi described herself as bitter and empty. She probably did not see herself as a worthy mentor to her daughters-in-law.<\/p>\n<p>We don\u2019t know how the relationship began with Naomi and her daughters-in-law. But a strong bond had formed between them. When Naomi encouraged them to leave her as she returned to her homeland, these young women declared their loyalty to her, saying, \u201cWe will go back with you to your people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Naomi explained that there was virtually no hope of a family future for them in her homeland. Orpah then said goodbye, but Ruth was not persuaded to leave Naomi. She made a passionate commitment, saying, \u201cYour people will be my people and your God my God.\u201d Through a loving relationship, Ruth expressed faith both to Naomi and to her God.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-26464 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/naomi-2-300x286.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"286\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/naomi-2-300x286.jpg 300w, https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/naomi-2.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Ruth replied, \u201cDon\u2019t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.\u201d\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong><strong><em>\u2014\u00a0\u00a0Ruth 1:16<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-26465 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/naomi-3-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/naomi-3-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/naomi-3.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>We never know what influence our words and actions might have on the lives of others, even when we feel empty. Our life is an example to others of what Christianity looks like, whether we choose to be a mentor or not. What will others see as they engage with you today?<\/p>\n<p><em>Lord, give us the courage to set a godly example for oth-ers to follow. May others see you through the love we share. In Jesus\u2019 name, Amen.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-26466 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/naomi-4.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/naomi-4.jpg 500w, https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/naomi-4-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":26466,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","tags":[],"portfolio_entries":[29],"class_list":["post-26462","portfolio","type-portfolio","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","portfolio_entries-29"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio\/26462","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/portfolio"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26462"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio\/26462\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26467,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio\/26462\/revisions\/26467"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26462"},{"taxonomy":"portfolio_entries","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio_entries?post=26462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}