honor Him-Sameul 3

Samuel Awakening Eli~De La Tour

This is the same Samuel, whose mother, Hannah, promised her child to the Lord’s service 1 Samuel 1.

Even at such a tender age, Samuel heard the Lord call him at night 1 Samuel 3:4. Since he was so inexperienced, Samuel did not realize the voice was the voice of God. He thought Eli was calling him 1 Samuel 3:5–6, 8. Eli told Samuel that it was the Lord calling 1 Samuel 3:8–9.

God communicates with all of us through the whisperings of the Holy Ghost if we are prepared to hear. We must prepare ourselves to receive and understand communications from the Lord. Samuel honored the Lord, because he was prepared to hear Him.

“I will raise me up a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in mine heart and in my mind” (1 Samuel 2:35).

“The Lord called Samuel: and he answered, Here am I” (1 Samuel 3:4).

“Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth” (1 Samuel 3:10).

"Wherefore the Lord God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the Lord saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed." 1 Samuel 2:30

Eli's sons did not honor The Lord. It seems that God gave Eli a sort of second chance with Samuel. He did a poor job raising self-indulgent sons the first go-around. But with Samuel, he taught the boy to love God above all else. Of course Eli's family line lost the priesthood line and the honor that went with it. Instead the honor that should have gone to the family of Eli fell upon Samuel 1 Samuel 3:19.

This is a poignant story for me. When we take it upon ourselves to invite children into our families, it seems we make an unspoken covenant with the Lord to teach those children to know and honor Him. First Hannah and the Eli showed us a little of what can be accomplished when we take that charge seriously.

So how do we honor the Lord above all else and teach this to our children? We all know the answer to this question in our hearts. We walk as Jesus walked. Impossible? Probably...But it's the daily striving to live a Christ-like life that shows honor to Him. The old standard answers really are the key. Pray...read the scriptures...live the commandments...Yes, but to do these things only to complete our checklist is not in the spirit of honoring the Lord. We must do these things, because we love Him and want to be like Him. We must know with every fiber of our beings that He died and lives for us. We must seek to hear His voice and follow His will. That honors Him