|
Introduction:
Just over 3000 years ago a man named Elkanah lived in the
mountains of Ephraim. He had two wives. One, Peninnah, bore
children. The other, Hannah, was barren. Every year Elkanah would
take his family to Shiloh, to the house of the Lord, to offer
their vows and sacrifices. Every year Hannah would weep and pray
because of her barrenness. Finally, while at the house of the
Lord, Hannah prayed, “O Lord of hosts, if you will … give Your
maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the Lord all the
days of his life” (I
Samuel 1:11). The Lord heard her prayer and granted Hannah
a son. She named him Samuel. Samuel became one of the great men of
God. He was a Levite, a prophet and a judge. We see a great deal
of Samuel’s life, but perhaps one of the greatest statements
about Samuel is found in I
Samuel 2:18: “But Samuel ministered before the Lord, even
as a child.” This week is our VBS. Our theme is “We
Believe”. Each day, our goal is to learn more about why we can
believe in God, His word and His creation. But our focus is on
teaching children. They cannot really serve God, can they? They
are too young. Yet, here is Samuel who ministered before the Lord,
even as a child. I want to examine four key factors in Samuel’s
childhood that caused him to serve as a child and stuck with him
into adulthood, through this, I hope to impress you with the great
need to start your children off on the right foot. Our VBS will be
a big help in this. Discussion: I.
Hannah started Samuel early. A.
When Hannah prayed for a child in I
Samuel 1:11, she simply said she would devote the child to
the Lord. There was no specified time for giving him to the
priests. In fact, in the vow itself, there was no mention of
Samuel going to be with the priests at all. Rather, Hannah vowed
Samuel would be a Nazirite according to the laws found in Numbers
6:1ff. B.
Yet, at the time Hannah weaned Samuel (about three years
old), she took him to the tabernacle to minister before the
Lord—something Levites typically did around age 30 (Numbers
4:3, 23, 30, 39). Samuel was a little child. Yet, he was
ministering before the Lord. C.
How easily Hannah might have said, “He is only a child.
He will have plenty of time to minister when he is older.”
Hannah could have kept her son to herself saying, “We need to
allow him to be a child. He only gets to do it once. I need to let
him be little.” But Hannah did not. She did not deprive her boy.
She nursed and nurtured him. But she challenged him to be more
than a child. D.
I am not asking parents to give their children away or to
send their sons to “preacher training” instead of school.
Neither has God asked any of these things. What I am asking is for
parents of children at just about any age to realize they have a
little servant in their midst. We need to be parents like Hannah
and challenge our children to be more than just children. They
need to be servants. I know your children cannot do what only
adults can do, but there are things children can do. Samuel opened
the doors to the tabernacle (I
Samuel 3:15). Let your children serve before the Lord in
any way they can. Make sure they are at VBS this week and have
them invite friends. Take them to visit people in the hospital or
deliver food to those in need. Have them write notes of
encouragement to their friends, to wayward members and even to
visitors. II.
Samuel grew in favor with God and men. A.
According to I
Samuel 2:26, Samuel grew in stature (NKJV). But there is
nothing impressive about that. Any child of three should grow in
stature. But he also grew in favor with God and man. That means he
was pleasant, agreeable and becoming to both God and man. He was a
joy to be around. He was a blessing in the lives of those around
him. B.
I believe each and every one of us would like this to be
said about ourselves and our children. I know I do. I want people
to enjoy being around me. And nothing makes me happier than to
hear someone say they enjoy being around my children. So, I have
to ask myself what caused Samuel to grow in favor before God and
men? I believe the answer to this question is found through our
first point. Samuel started early. Samuel did not wait until he
was done growing in stature to start growing in favor. This runs
contrary to our natural inclinations and societal expectations. We
want to baby our children. We want to allow them to experience the
joys of childhood as long as possible. In too many cases, our
children do not mature as they can. C.
I want to talk both to children and parents here. If you
want to grow in favor before God and man or want your children to,
learn from Samuel. Challenge yourself to move beyond the societal
expectations for someone your age. Challenge yourself to grow and
become more than you are now. Keep in mind, Samuel was three or
four years old when he began ministering before the Lord. If you
are a parent, expect more from your child. If you are the child,
expect more from yourself. This may sound odd. But ask yourself
this question: have you ever heard of a child being praised simply
because he acted his age? I have not. But I have heard many be
praised because they are “mature beyond their years.” It works
the same today as it did with Samuel. III.
Samuel was willing to serve. A.
In this point, while it applies to all, I want to focus on
young people. I am talking to all children living in the home. If
you can grasp anything I am saying and learn from it, I am talking
to you. One of the strongest keys in Samuel’s life is that he
was willing to serve—even as a child. Too many children and
young people (and even adults) are unwilling to serve. They only
grumble when they are asked to do anything. But Samuel was willing
to serve. B.
Note his willingness in I
Samuel 3:1-9. Samuel was unaware that the Lord spoke
directly to anyone. So, when he heard his name, he believed Eli
had called him. Put yourself in Samuel’s shoes and tell me how
you would have reacted. You are asleep and somebody calls you. You
run to him and he says, “It wasn’t me.” Then he does it
again. Then he does it a third time. (Keep in mind, from
Samuel’s perspective who else could it be but Eli?) Yet, each
time Samuel immediately ran to Eli without complaining or
murmuring. Why? He was willing to serve. C.
In your homes, you must be willing to serve. When your
parents ask you to do something, do not back talk them. Do not
murmur. Do not complain. Instead, comply. Even if you believe they
ask too much of you. Whatever reason you might come up with for
trying to keep from serving, submitting to and obeying your
parents is invalid, you need to follow in Samuel’s footsteps and
be a willing servant. The only exception is if your parents ask
you to disobey God. Remember Ephesians
6:1-3. “Obey your parents in the Lord for this is
right.” Are you willing to serve? IV.
Trained to listen to God and be His servant. A.
Finally, Eli taught Samuel one of the greatest lessons of
his life in I
Samuel 3:9-10. When the Lord speaks, you listen. We must
learn this lesson. You, children and young people, must learn this
lesson. When the Lord speaks, we are His servants and we must
listen. B.
You realize that Samuel did not like what he heard from the
Lord. He did not like to hear that his master and mentor, Eli, was
going to be punished and he did not want to relay the message to
Eli (I
Samuel 3:15). But that was the Lord’s message and Samuel
had to tell it. C.
Sometimes we may not like what the Lord says. He tells us
that we cannot do all the things that we may want to do, claiming
that the desires of our flesh can lead to sin (James
1:14). He tells us that we cannot say everything we may
want, but that we are to control our tongues (Ephesians
4:19). He tells us that we cannot hang out and be best
friends with just anyone we may want to because bad company
corrupts good morals (I
Corinthians 15:33). We are not the master, we are the
servants. When the Lord speaks, we must listen and obey. D.
Remember James
1:19? While we often use that verse as a pattern for our
communications with one another, primarily that passage is about
our relationship with God and is further explained in vss.
20-22. We are to accept what God says and do it, without
question. We need to approach the word of God saying, “Speak,
Lord, for your servant hears.” Conclusion: No matter how old or young you are, do not wait until you grow up to use what you have learned. Use it right now. If Samuel could minister before the Lord, even as a child, so can you. Will you be a minister before the Lord, growing in favor with God and man, willing to serve and accepting God’s authority without question? If so, then you will be a great servant as Samuel.
Glory
to God in the church by Christ Jesus
|
||||||||||
