Well sort of. I have different passages where I like different prophets at different times in their different ministries. (Is that enough difference for you?) But overall I think Samuel might be my favorite prophet. For a couple of reasons that I want to talk about here today.
The first is the family that he came from. Hannah, Samuel's mom, was a godly woman. She longed for a child and she prayed fervently that God would grant her this dream that was so close to her heart. She even promised that if God would give her a child she would dedicate that child back to Him. 1 Samuel 1:1-20 That's quite a statement. To finally be given the thing you desire most then turn right around and give it back to God. That's a woman of great faith.
Well if you know the story then you know that the Lord did grant Hanna her dream, He gave her a son, Samuel. After she weaned him Hannah took Samuel back to the temple and put him the care of the priest. She dedicated her little boy, that she had prayed for so fervently to the Lord, vowing that Samuel would live his life for the Lord all the days of his life.
Now I'm the youngest of my family, not the oldest like Samuel, but in this story I still find some commonalities that I love. My parents prayed for children for several years before God first gave them my oldest brother. And, just like Hannah, the Lord gave my parents several more children. There's something far more significant then that in these two stories though. Hannah dedicated her son to the Lord and she prayed for him. My parents gave us kids one of the best gifts that can ever be given, they prayed for us, continue to pray for us and taught us about the Lord. No, they didn't send us to live in a temple, thankfully, but they did dedicate themselves to teaching us about the Lord and helping us to learn to walk in His ways. That's the gift of a godly family and I'm very glad to have that as part of my story as Samuel did.
Second reason I love Samuel so much is how he was called. In 1 Samuel 3 the chapter starts by saying that "the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions." And yet in verse 4 the Lord called to Samuel. Immediately the boy ran to Eli, who he ministered under and said "Here I am!"
I love how quick Samuel was to respond, he went right to Eli but Eli hadn't called him so he sent him back to bed. Then it happened again and Samuel went back, "Here I am; you called me." But Eli said he hadn't and sent him back to bed. When it happened a third time Eli realized what was happening and told Samuel that it was the Lord calling him. He told the boy that if the Lord called him again to say "Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening."
That's the part I love. Samuel was give the perfect response to the Lord's calling and it's the one we should still use. Every time the Lord calls me I want my response to be that of Samuel's, "Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening."
The third reason I want to talk about today that I love Samuel so much is his loyalty. See when the Lord spoke to Samuel he gave him a prophesy on how He had condemned Eli's sons for the wickedness. The next morning Eli asked Samuel what the Lord had spoken to him but He didn't want to share it. The Bible says he was afraid, I would imagine he was also sad. He had to have known how much Eli loved his sons. He didn't want to hurt the man who was raising him but Eli persisted and Samuel told him the words of the Lord.
I love what's revealed here about Samuel's heart and I think there's a lot to learn from him. He didn't want to share because he didn't want to hurt a man he loved and respected but he did share because it was the Lord's words and he knew he needed to. That's the combination of love and truth that we should all be striving for in all our conversations.
So there it is, the 3 reasons from Samuel's childhood that I love him as a prophet and a few things we can learn from him.
No comments:
Post a Comment