"For this boy I prayed, and the LORD has given me my petition which I asked of Him. "
1 Samuel 1:27
GOOD BOY, BAD BOYS
Read It: 1 Samuel 1:1-3, 9-18; 2:11-12
I love the way God's Word lays stuff out straight, no sugarcoating. That's what today's Bible reading does, especially 1 Samuel 2:11-12. It's sort of a Monday morning splash of cold water to get us going this week as we continue talking about Christian parenting. What a contrast. Here was Samuel, just a little boy, serving the Lord in Shiloh. His mother Hannah was what we would call a layperson. She didn't spend all of her time studying God's Law. She just lived it, and she loved God. But right down the hall from Samuel were the bedrooms of Hophni and Phinehas, the no-good, grown-up sons of Eli who didn't even know the Lord. They should have. They were the preacher's kids, messing around while Dad faithfully served the Lord. Ouch! In case you haven't figured it out by now, Eli was your classic poor parent. ent. By the time we meet the family, his boys were assisting him in the ministry of the temple. They were going to church with him every Sunday. They were wearing the veneer because Dad was the holy man of Israel. But these brothers had a racket going (2:13b-16). They were dipping their hands in the offering plate-only it wasn't money. They were taking ing more of the sacrifices than the priest's rightful share. And if anyone called them on the scam, they threatened him. By now you're probably saying, "Please, tell me what Eli did or didn't do as a parent so I can run as far and as fast the other way as possible." Okay, we'll do that this week. But we'll also look at a lot of positive parenting enting instruction from the Word of God. Let me close today with a couple of observations to set the context for the week.
Eli was a man of God. No question about that. The sons of Eli dishonored the Lord, but Samuel, only a child, honored the Lord. The contrast trast is between these two grown men, the sons of Eli, and this young boy who had been dedicated to the Lord, Samuel, who ministered to the Lord. Think About It The two sons of Eli ministered for themselves. Samuel ministered before the Lord. That says a lot.
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