I wrestled with what devotional I wanted to share with the Triple L’s today. I wrestled because I know what I wanted to share, a word of encouragement, a word of spring is coming. But God was doing a work in my heart and so I share with you some of my own study in the scripture as of late.
1Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli. And the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision.
2 At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his own place. 3 The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was.
4 Then the Lord called Samuel, and he said, “Here I am!” 5 and ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down.
6 And the Lord called again, “Samuel!” and Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” 7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. (1 Samuel 3:1-7 ESV)
There’s three things I want to share with you all this afternoon:
First, Vision:
Whose had a vision from God lately? I think we’re in a time when visions form God are becoming short and few. I think it’s time for us to be brave enough to ask God for vision. Let me give you some background on why the vision wasn’t frequent in Eli’s time: It’s because of Eli’s own lack of spiritual growth. So if you and I aren’t sharing visions from God now today, we need to ask ourselves, have we stopped growing spiritually?
Second, Dim eyesight doesn’t mean the workday is over.
Eli, was getting old and verse 2 and 3 are very telling of Eli’s psychological disposition. This is what I want all of us to see. Being tired, being weak, being incapable, that doesn’t mean we can stop working. That doesn’t mean that our calling ends. Eli retired for the night even though it was time for work. So if you’re not ready to do the work God called us to do, why do you expect to experience God at all? There was no vision because Eli wasn’t ready to do the work he was called to.
Third, God will call us in a way we don’t always recognize, are you ready for it?
In verses 4 – 7 we follow Samuel being called by God. But the young Samuel doesn’t recognize it. He goes to the wrong place because he is expecting God to show up in a certain way. Here’s what’s interesting, God keeps calling until we recognize it’s him that’s calling. Some of us; however, don’t want to hear him calling. Some of us, hear him calling, and let our spirits give excuses.
For as long as we’re here on this planet, walking, moving, then we have an obligation to answer God’s calling, to have vision, to be ready to serve God in his glory. Are we ready to do that today?
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