December 10

THE RAISING UP OF SAMUEL

1 Samuel 1

"Wherefore it came to pass, when the time was come about after Hannah had conceived, that she bare a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, Because I have asked him of the Lord." (vs. 20)  What is this saying?  Well, Hannah was not able to have children because it says that the Lord shut up her womb to prepare her for the birth of Samuel.  Since she wasn't able to have any children, she would go up to the house of the Lord and weep.  She would pray and pray until she wept sore.  Then one day she went up and prayed and vowed a vow.  She said, "O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head." (vs. 11)  This all means that she is praying for a child, and after he is born, she will give him as a sacrifice. 

We, the people, should be willing to give up to the Lord all of ourselves to Him.  We shouldn't just ask Him to give us something and not give ourselves back to Him.  Hannah did receive something from the Lord, and gave herself back to Him, and by that, she regarded Samuel as a gracious gift from God, and expressed her intention to fulfill her vow by dedicating her child unto the Lord—just like every mother should do.  After every mother receives a child, they should regard it as a gift, and dedicate that child unto the Lord.  So, after Samuel was born, Hannah did just what she said she would.  She gave him over to the Lord as a sacrifice. 

Then, as he was growing up, he was raised by Eli in the Shiloh sanctuary.  When he was old enough, he became the last of the judges and the first of  many, many prophets.  He ruled Israel immediately before the beginning of the kingdom.  During all this time, and from then on, he was known as the great patriot of Israel, and he was, more or less, the spokesman for God.  He was also known as the man who made Israel a nation of God.  So there—now anyone that reads this will have, or at least should have, a better understanding of how Samuel grew from a boy into a man of God, and then stayed that way for the rest of his life, and how God used his life in a mighty way.

~ Heather Barden, age 13