Good day dear friends.
Yesterday we studied what Paul called immaturity in the 3rd chapter of 1 Corinthians. Paul's desire was to speak with mature Christians but instead found them still filled with jealousy and quarreling over who was better because of baptism. He called them infants, still in the flesh. Our sermon centered on growing in the Lord and I shared Wesley's idea of grace: prevenient, justifying, and sanctifying. I shared with the congregation a chart of characteristics found in different stage of spiritual maturity, and folks could chart their growth alongside this chart.
Here is our study guide for today: Monday: Please read the story of a mother and her child as found in 1 Samuel 1. Pay close attention to verses 19-28. What are your thoughts on a mother, who prayed for a child for so long, to finally have one only to return him to the Lord? Would you have done the same thing? Read 1 Sam. 3. It is said the boy was “ministering.” How would you rate the child in terms of his spiritual maturity?
Here is that passage from 1 Samuel 1:19 Early the next morning they arose and worshiped before the Lord and then went back to their home at Ramah. Elkanah made love to his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered her. 20 So in the course of time Hannah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, "Because I asked the Lord for him." 21 When Elkanah went up with all his family to offer the annual sacrifice to the Lord and to fulfill his vow, 22 Hannah did not go. She said to her husband, "After the boy is weaned, I will take him and present him before the Lord, and he will live there always." 23 "Do what seems best to you," her husband Elkanah told her. "Stay here until you have weaned him; only may the Lord make good his word." So the woman stayed at home and nursed her son until she had weaned him. 24 After he was weaned, she took the boy with her, young as he was, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh. 25 When the bull had been sacrificed, they brought the boy to Eli, 26 and she said to him, "Pardon me, my lord. As surely as you live, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the Lord. 27 I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. 28 So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord." And he worshiped the Lord there.
This first passage tells of Hannah's devotion to God in asking for and receiving a son. Once she had him, she named him Samuel and presented him to the Lord so that he could live there and minister to the Lord. In chapter 3 we find these words, "1 The boy Samuel ministered before the Lord under Eli. In those days the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions. 2 One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place. 3 The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the house of the Lord, where the ark of God was. 4 Then the Lord called Samuel. Samuel answered, "Here I am." 5 And he ran to Eli and said, "Here I am; you called me." But Eli said, "I did not call; go back and lie down." So he went and lay down. 6 Again the Lord called, "Samuel!" And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, "Here I am; you called me." "My son," Eli said, "I did not call; go back and lie down." 7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: The word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. 8 A third time the Lord called, "Samuel!" And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, "Here I am; you called me." Then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy. 9 So Eli told Samuel, "Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, 'Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.'" So Samuel went and lay down in his place. 10 The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, "Samuel! Samuel!" Then Samuel said, "Speak, for your servant is listening."
For Samuel to find himself in the house of Eli, the prophet of God, must have been something of an adventure. He learned from Eli all that he should do and he was a willing servant. It must have seemed innocent enough to hear his name called in the middle of the night, so he rose and ran to see what Eli wanted. The old man tells him that he did not call him and for him to get back to bed. A second and third time the Lord called Samuel again, and it was on that third time that Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy and gave Samuel the instructions for how he should respond to this call. "Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening."
It was the commitment of his mother and his own personal commitment to God, that allowed the boy Samuel to hear this first prophetic message from the Lord regarding God's people. Age was not a factor, a willingness to grow spiritually was. Though the boy was just 12 according to some writers, he was willing to explore what God said and was open to God's leading. What Paul encountered in Corinth is what we sometimes encounter in churches today; folks not willing to grow, folks stuck where they feel comfortable in all aspects of worship, prayer, Sunday school, giving, leading, etc. The newness and the reality of God grows stale because it is done almost without thinking; it is simply something we do every Sunday, this goes here and then comes this, let's go home. Paul wanted, as God does, those who come and expectantly say, "Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening."
PRAYER: Come, living God and speak to me, for I am listening. Let me be open to Your voice each and every day. Let my Sunday experience be that which brings newness of life to me each day. I pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
Have a great and blessed day!
e.v.
