SPEAK, LORD
The
story of Samuel the prophet is an amazing one, and it holds many treasures of
wisdom that we can learn from today.
This man was the direct product of his mother's faith, and of God's
promise. His mother, Hannah, was barren
and prayed to God for a son. In exchange
for this son, Hannah vowed to "lend" him in service to the Lord for
all of his life. In fulfillment of this
vow, she presented Samuel to Eli the priest to be taught and raised in the
tabernacle at Shiloh right after he was weaned.
According to Jewish tradition, this may have been between the ages of 18
months and 5 years.
Besides
being lent to the Lord for life, scripture says that Samuel "ministered
unto the Lord before Eli," and that he was in "favor with the
Lord, and also with men" (1 Samuel 3:1 and 2:26). These same three qualities should be found in
every true child of God:
·
First, they should consider their lives to be truly "lent" to God. Samuel spent his whole life in the Lord's
service, and if we think that God expects anything less of us, then we have
missed the point of the gospel. It is by
denying our life, that the life of Christ becomes manifested in us.
·
Second, just as Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli the
priest, so must we learn to minister to the Lord before man. Some would say that their calling is to
minister to their fellow man before God, but that is just the opposite of what
God is wanting. Our ministry and work
must always be to God first and foremost, and then to man. Ministering to our Lord involves waiting and
listening to determine what it is that He requires for us to do, and then
meeting His heart's needs. Many run
headlong into ministry without first discerning through the Spirit how God
wants to use them and direct their energy.
·
Third, we should be careful to preserve our good witness
before man as well as before God. There
are those who are very vocal about their love for God, but bring reproach to
the name of Jesus because of the lives they live before those they associate
with. The apostle Paul referred to
believers as "living letters, known and read of all men" (2
Corinthians 3:2, 3). What do the pages
of our life say to those who look at us?
After
Samuel had been in Shiloh for some time (the Jewish historian, Josephus, suggests
Samuel was 12 years old though scripture is silent on this point) God chose to
speak audibly to him. As he laid down to
sleep, God called his name. Samuel, who
had never heard God speak to him, thought that it was Eli calling him, and ran
to see what it was that he wanted. Of
course, Eli didn't know what the boy was talking about, and told him to go back
to bed; but God called to him the second time with the same result. After the third time, Eli finally realized
that the Lord was trying to speak to the child, so he advised him to go back to
bed, and when he heard the Lord call to him say, "Speak Lord, for thy
servant heareth" (1 Samuel 3:1-10).
It
is absolutely essential that every child of God learn to listen for and hear
God speak to them personally. Yes, it is
much easier to run to the priest or to the pastor to hear what they have to say
for God, but this can never and
should never replace our hearing directly from God. Any mature man of God will direct young
Christians to go back and let God speak to them Himself. The ministers of God are there to encourage
us and to confirm what God is speaking to us, but never to take His place as
God's mouthpiece altogether. This is a
dangerous precedent that breeds followers of man rather than followers of
Christ: who espouse man's ideas rather than God's truth. Of course, God does use men to speak His
words, but never to replace hearing from Him directly. The things we hear from men and women of God
should confirm and reinforce what we already have learned and know of God. The Lord has placed the Spirit of truth in us
so that we may discern the truth from every lie.
The
way God speaks personally to His children today is primarily through His Holy
Spirit and the Word of God. "But
the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, Whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things, and bring
all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you."
(John 14:26). "Howbeit when He,
the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He
shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak:
and He will show you things to come" (John 16:13). As we study God's Word, the Spirit opens our
understanding of its truths, and convicts us of areas where we need His grace
to overcome sin.
The
things that God speaks to us are not always popular - even among the
"Christian" crowd. Jesus spoke
some hard sayings to his disciples, and, at one point, many of them quit
following Him because of this. When God
was finally able to get through to Samuel, He spoke some hard sayings to the
young child, also. He spoke of the
judgment that He was going to bring upon Eli's family because of the sins of
his children that he allowed to go on in the tabernacle. As a child, Samuel was forced to tell Eli,
the aged priest of the Lord, all of the bad things that were going to befall
his family. We not only have a
responsibility before God to hear what He desires to speak to us, but
also to speak those things as He directs.
When
God spoke to Paul about preaching the gospel to the gentiles, it was not a
popular notion among the Jews. Because
of this, he could not afford to rely on what his fellow Hebrews had to say on
the subject. He had to hear from
God! He did not consult with man,
therefore, but got alone with God to hear what He would say. God revealed His will in Christ Jesus to
Paul, and he was therefore forever convinced of the truth of it. "But I certify you, brethren, that
the gospel which was preached of me is
not after man. For I neither received it of man,
neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. But when it pleased God, Who separated me
from my mother’s womb, and called me by His grace, to reveal His Son in me,
that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood: neither went I up to Jerusalem
to them which were apostles before me; but I went into Arabia, and
returned again unto Damascus" (Galatians 1:11,12, 15-17).
We
have patterned our faith after the thoughts and imaginations of man for long
enough. They would convince us that if
we pay our tithes and warm a church pew every Sunday, we have fulfilled our
Christian duty to God. There is so much
more, however, that our Father wishes to speak to us, and we have the perfect
pattern set before us to follow: Jesus Christ our Lord. Do you have the courage to say, "Speak,
Lord, for your servant is listening?"
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