Devotional - May 7, 2004

I wonder how many parents have prayed those words over their children? The boy would be named Samuel and his mother Hannah would view no greater calling for his life than to spend it serving the Lord in His temple and ministering to His people.

Eli, the priest would take Samuel into the temple at Hannah's request and train him to do what she rightly believed was God's will for him. One look at Eli's sons however, and you might question her decision. The Bible tells us that Hophni and Phineas were both wicked and headed for certain disaster. Everyone knew Eli's sons were bad news and one has to wonder what was Hannah thinking when she placed her son in Eli's care.

Was God working through Eli and would he work through the son of Hannah? Absolutely. But would God ignore the wickedness of his sons and let their arrogant insolence go unnoticed? No. When we come prayerfully to God in an attitude of submission and surrender everything in our life (including kids), He is more than able to make a way where there seems to be no way. But God doesn't ignore rebellion either; everyone will die, but a rebellious attitude speeds up the process.

Jesus worked constantly to minister to those who needed to know God's love. He found no problem doing it on the Sabbath. After all, what better day to demonstrate God's mercy than on the day the temple fire is smoking from multitude of animal sacrifices?

If the people knew Eli's sons were up to no good, they surely knew Jesus was up to good; His reputation both preceded and followed Him. In the face of accusation and zealous Jews, Jesus was busy serving God's interest against increasing opposition from the religious crowd. When asked why he would do such a thing, He said, "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working."

Hannah found that dedicating her child to pursuit of the Lord's interests was a worthy pursuit. Have you dedicated your children to be used by God in any way He sees fit? Samuel proved to be a man whom God would use in ways Hannah could have never anticipated.

It seems only fitting as we approach Mother's Day, that we think about Hannah. She was a woman of God who viewed motherhood as a calling to prepare her children for God's service. She prayed, fasted and trusted God to do with her and her children what would ultimately bring glory to Him.

Personally, I think there are far too many Hophnis and Phineases out there; we need more Hannahs and Samuels so they can bring the others back to the Lord.

1 Developed from Read the Bible Thru ( 1Sa. 1:1-2:21 Jn. 5:1-23 Ps. 105:39-45 Pr. 14:28-29 )
2. Scripture comes from the Holy Bible, New International Version; (c)1978 by New York International Bible Society