Do you have trouble figuring out who is on the other end of the phone line? What if God called you and you didn’t recognize Him? In a way, that’s what happened to Samuel. God called him (not by phone!), but Samuel thought it was Eli. So Eli had to tell the boy how to answer God’s call: “Speak, Lord, for Your servant hears” (1 Samuel 3:9-10). We parents should help our children “hear” God’s call through the gospel and know how to answer it through faith and obedience.
Once Samuel knew who was calling him and how to respond, he was true to his pledge to “hear” (heed, obey). He didn’t just say “Your servant hears” – he meant it! God gave young Samuel a hard message: Eli’s sons were corrupt, Eli had not restrained them, and God was more than a little fed up. Terrible judgment would come on Eli and his house, and there was no remedy. Not even sacrifice would atone (1 Samuel 3:11-14). Though Samuel was afraid, with Eli’s encouragement he made know what God had said (vv. 15-18).
Like Samuel, we must obey God, not merely say we will. In Jesus’ parable (Matthew 21:28-32), one son said he would obey his father but did not; the other said he would not, but then repented and did his father’s will. Just saying is not equal to doing!
Even when the task takes us outside of our comfort zone, we are responsible to do as our Master directs and to do so promptly with our full strength. Prosperity and freedom have cursed us with the attitude that we don’t have to do anything unless it suits us. By contrast, Samuel confessed that he was the Lord’s servant. True servants don’t pick and choose which of the Master’s commands to obey.
Jesus pointed out the inconsistency in calling Him “Lord” while not doing what He says (Luke 6:46). Can you honestly say, “Speak, Lord, for Your servant hears”?
–Joe Slater
