3/5/13. 1 Samuel 3:1-4:1a. SPEAK, FOR YOUR SERVANT IS LISTENING-my devotional

1 Samuel  3:1-4:1a                                                                                Kevin Jesmer NIU UBF

Key Verse: 3:10                                                                                     3/5/13

“The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, ‘Samuel! Samuel!’

Then Samuel said, ‘Speak, for your servant is listening.’”

    Dear Lord Jesus. Thank you for granting eternal life to all who believe. Thank you for teaching us that our lives in this world is just a vapor. But in you we have eternal life. Today a world leader died of cancer at the age of 58. It happens time and again. It may happen to me. But Lord Jesus, in you I place my trust. You are my hope and my salvation. I want to spend the tiny vapor of my existence in this world living for your glory and coming to know  you, maturing in faith and loving others. Thank you for showing the way. Help me to understand something very important through this passage. I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen!

Part 1:  God Calls Samuel  (1-10)

Verses 1-10, “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.”

The word of the Lord was rare. Samuel seemed to be one of the few young people ministering. This is a recipe for disaster in any generation for the word of God is the word of life. People suffer greatly when the word of God is rare.  But God did not abandon his people. He would call Samuel, who would grow as the lamp of God. God called him three times. Eventually Samuel answered God’s call and entered into a personal relationship with the Lord.

Every generation needs to hear the word of God and every generation needs new, young spiritual leaders who can propagate the word of God to the people of their generation. A generation that does not have the word of God suffers greatly. They loose the compass and do not know the way. We need to show people the way. We need spiritual leaders who can help them to know the way. This is imperative, both in ancient times and also now.

There is a serious lack of spiritual leaders in every land. Jesus even said, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest therefore to send out workers into his harvest field.” (Matt 9:38) In this passage, little Samuel was growing as a young spiritual leader. He was the hope of Israel. God was intent on working through this young man’s life.

The word of God was rare in Samuel’s time. We do have the word of God. In some nations the word of God is rare. In the western world it is not. We have Bibles everywhere. We have gospel teachers and videos etc all over. But though we are surrounded by the Bible, it is “functionally” rare in peoples’ hearts. The word of God is not able to penetrate into their hearts and minds because of idols and preoccupations. They are distracted by media and social networking. For such people, it is like swimming in the ocean, being surrounded by water and yet dying of thirst. Somehow, through a new generation of servants of God, the word of God can go from being functionally rare to being abundant and overflowing in the hearts of our young people.

I thank God for calling me to be a Bible teacher from a young age. I can share the gospel with others since 1986. I am no longer a young man. I am 48 years old. But God still has plans for my life. He wants to me to teach the Bible through 1:1 Bible study. He wants me and Julie to do the Art of Marriage seminars and he wants me to preach occasionally at UBF conferences and Bible Schools. He is also using me to be an off site coordinator for the sending of missionaries to the people of NW Ontario. I thank God that he has chosen to work through my life and my family.

But God wants to call a new generation of Gospel workers. He wants to raise up a new generation of servants of God who can reveal Christ to the nations. I pray for all of my kids to have a “Samuel moment”, when they hear the voice of the Lord personally. I pray that they hear God’s voice and answer his call. I pray that young servants of God may be established across USA and Canada and among the First Nations People.

I am also interested in the words, “Speak for your servant is listening.” Samuel was laying there, in the quiet of the night, listening for the voice of God at the instruction of Eli. It shows the importance of taking time out, entering into a quiet moment, with the ears of our hearts perked to hear the voice of the Lord. Though my life is busy, I need to take time out to hear the still quiet voice of the Lord. That is why quiet time is so important. We all need to just stop what we are doing and take time to listen for the voice of the Lord. I thank God for the practice of writing out daily bread that I have learned in UBF. I also thank God for the quiet times where I could journal and focus my attention on God. Some of the best moments is when I was able to journal while on vacation in nature. God’s glory is revealed in all of creation.

Part 2.  Samuel Was A Man Who Spoke Truth (3:11-4:1a)

Verses 3:11-4:1, “¹¹ And the Lord said to Samuel: “See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears about it tingle. ¹² At that time I will carry out against Eli everything I spoke against his family—from beginning to end. ¹³ For I told him that I would judge his family forever because of the sin he knew about; his sons blasphemed God,and he failed to restrain them. ¹⁴ Therefore I swore to the house of Eli, ‘The guilt of Eli’s house will never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.’” ¹⁵ Samuel lay down until morning and then opened the doors of the house of the Lord. He was afraid to tell Eli the vision, ¹⁶ but Eli called him and said, “Samuel, my son.” Samuel answered, “Here I am.” ¹⁷ “What was it he said to you?” Eli asked. “Do not hide it from me. May God deal with you, be it ever so severely, if you hide from me anything he told you.” ¹⁸ So Samuel told him everything, hiding nothing from him. Then Eli said, “He is the Lord; let him do what is good in his eyes.” ¹⁹ The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground. ²⁰ And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the Lord. ²¹ The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh, and there he revealed himself to Samuel through his word. 4 And Samuel’s word came to all Israel.”

God shared his heart with Samuel, though the message was hard. God thought of Samuel as a co-worker. Samuel then told Eli everything, hiding nothing. It is very difficult to deliver hard words of truth and judgment, but sometimes it is God’s message. Samuel listened to God’s voice carefully and let none of his words fall to the ground. When Samuel had the words of God in his heart, all Israel attested that Samuel was a prophet. The Lord revealed himself to Samuel through his word and that word came to Israel through Samuel’s ministry.

I can see the attitude of a servant of the Lord. He was ready to listen to all that God wanted to tell him. He was obedient to God’s will to tell the truth. He was respectful to Eli, even though Eli didn’t warrant respect in so many ways. He was also ready to speak the hard words that God gave him to speak. He let none of his words fall the ground. He spread the word of the Lord to all of Israel, even without the internet.

I need to have this attitude. The only way to not let my words fall to the ground is to pray and be sincere before the word of God and to pray that I make each moment count. God can do it. That doesn’t mean that I can’t have fun and laugh and be happy. It means that, with the help of God, the words that come out of my mouth and be like arrows reaching their targets. How can the gospel flow from me to all of America and Canada? It is only through discipleship. It is only through raising up disciples who can go forth with the Gospel. Samuel must have had disciples that took his teachings and spread them throughout Israel. Indeed, there were schools of prophets at that time. (1100 B.C.) I pray that God can work through me to be a disciple raiser in this generation.

Prayer: “Lord, raise up your servants through whom the word of God can come to our whole nation.”

One Word: In hope, God still calls his servants