Faithfulness
1 Samuel 3
1 Now the young man Samuel was ministering to the Lord under Eli. And the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision.
2 At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his own place.
3 The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was.
4 Then the Lord called Samuel, and he said, “Here I am!”
5 and ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down.
6 And the Lord called again, “Samuel!” and Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.”
7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.
8 And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the young man.
9 Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down, and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
10 And the Lord came and stood, calling as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant hears.”
11 Then the Lord said to Samuel, “Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which the two ears of everyone who hears it will tingle.
12 On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end.
13 And I declare to him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them.
14 Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.”
15 Samuel lay until morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the Lord. And Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli.
16 But Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son.” And he said, “Here I am.”
17 And Eli said, “What was it that he told you? Do not hide it from me. May God do so to you and more also if you hide anything from me of all that he told you.”
18 So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. And he said, “It is the Lord. Let him do what seems good to him.”
19 And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground.
20 And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established as a prophet of the Lord.
21 And the Lord appeared again at Shiloh, for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the Lord.
Today we look at one of the most endearing stories in the Bible. The young boy, Samuel, is called by God Himself into faithful ministry. At a time in the history of God’s people when faithfulness was in short supply, here we have a child who gives himself wholly and freely over to the Lord in obedient service. What can I say – I love this story. It is one of the first Biblical stories I tell my own grandchildren. Let’s look at a few of the details for a bit.
God has been quiet. The reason He has been quiet is because the people are not in the mood to listen. Instead they are in the mood to chase after pagan gods and pursue their own wealth. The 400 year cycle of the Judges has just ended. God’s people have not truly embraced Him as their God for longer than 40 years for generations. They were far more apt to stray into idol worship or a blasphemous mixture of worship of the true God with worship of idols. This led God to keep silent. By the time we get to Samuel, no one, not even Eli the priest, truly knows and hears from God. But with Samuel, all of that is about to change. After a few false starts, as God is introducing Himself to Samuel, we find a person (a child!) who is willing to listen and learn. From this point forward, Samuel is faithful to the calling of God upon his young life. Never once do we see Samuel stray from God’s path throughout his life. And he had some difficult people to deal with as we will find over the coming days and weeks.
For me the story doesn’t not begin with Samuel’s faithfulness, but that of his mother; she prayed and supported his ministry before he was even conceived. With the words we have about her in the text we know that she was a faithful woman of God before he was born and continued to minister to the prophet probably throughout his life. We don’t know how long she lived, but I can just see a teenage Samuel saying, “Ah mom, enough already.” These quiet stories of faithfulness need to bring us strength as we mirror their examples of what it means to live for God even if you have the most unassuming of lives. Other may not see how you live for God, but He does!
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