1 i g ^ a m u e V a lter L. W ilson
neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed unto him.” Oh, you see, he was still in the dark. Although he was an obedient boy and around the taber nacle, and around Eli, and although he was serving, he didn’t know God himself. How often that is the case! Beloved, the Lord wants us to know Him. He gives us eternal life so that we may know Him, and every boy and girl ought to want to know the God that made the earth and the heavens and the God before whom they shall some day stand in judg ment. Samuel didn’t know Him yet; although he was serving Him, minis tering to Him, doing things for Him, he was a stranger to the Lord. Then we read in I Samuel 3:10, “Then Samuel answered, Speak; for Thy servant heareth.” Oh, now, he’s getting somewhere. He was saying, “ Lord, I want You to talk to me. Lord, I want You to tell me the things You want me to know. Lord, I’m listening; I’m Your servant.” Although just a boy, Samuel wanted the very best that God had and he wanted to know what the Lord wanted him to do. He wanted to know the Lord Himself. Then we read in I Samuel 3:21, “And the Lord appeared again in Shi loh: for the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord.” Here is a boy who finally got to know God, and he got to know God through the Word of God. So, let me urge each of you dear ones read ing this, that you take your Bible and you get acquainted with the Lord Jesus, and with God the Father, and with the Holy Spirit, as you listen to His precious Word. He wants you to know Him and listen. If you’re going to live with Him forever, why not get acquainted with Him now? The Scrip ture says, “Acquaint now thyself with Him and be at peace.” So I bring to you, precious friends, this call, to come to the Saviour, believe in Him, trust Him and love Him. Let God be well known to you and your heart, and He’ll make you a wonderful per son in the coming days and years.
loving the things of God, and honor ing the name of his Father. Again, we read in I Samuel 3:1, “And the child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli.” Oh, he’s still at it, and he’s doing it now in the presence of his superior, Eli, the chief priest. This boy did what he did in front of the priest so that if he did it wrong, the priest could correct him and help him. We don’t want to do things of God bunglingly. The Word of God says “ Cursed is he that doeth the things of the Lord negligently.” So, this lad did his work right in front of the priest. And then we read in I Samuel 3:4, “The Lord called Samuel, and he an swered, ‘Here am I.’ Isn’t that lovely for even a little boy to have an ear open for God’s call, so that when God called him, he answered at once, “ Here I am, what can I do for you?” He heard God speaking to him and he responded. He wasn’t afraid. He didn’t run away lest God was going to tell him to do something he didn’t want to do. He wanted the very best that God had, and you will notice that the Lord put his name in the Bible and this boy became known through out the whole world, just because he lived for God while he was a boy. Nobody cares for those boys who live for themselves and for their own pleasures and live in disobedience. They don’t make a name for them selves, they don’t become men of God whom God mentions in His book. I’m sure that any of you boys and girls reading this want God’s approval, don’t you? Well, when God calls you, say “ Here am I.” Then we read in I Samuel 4:6, “ And the Lord called yet again, Sam uel.” And Samuel ran to Eli. Right away he responded. Right away he acted. Right away he did what God wanted him to do. He didn’t argue. He didn’t reason, but he just went right ahead and did the thing that he was supposed to do. Then, I Samuel 3:7 we read: “Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord,
the priest, about the people. But here, he is ministering before the Lord, being a child: that is, he was doing the things around the temple that a child could do. Maybe he washed the pots and pans and polished the furni ture. Anyway, the Bible states that he ministered before the Lord. Notice that God puts down what children do and what this little boy did. We some times think that God doesn’t pay any attention to the antics of children, but quite evidently He does. At least He did in this case. Then we read in I Samuel 2:21, “And the child Samuel grew before the Lord.” He grew both in his body and in his spirit. His body kept grow ing like any normal child would who received the proper food and the proper environment, b u t h e a l s o learned to know the things of God. He was growing up to be a believer and a lover of the Lord and it was before the Lord that he did it. The Lord was watching him. The Lord had set him right before His face so that He saw everything Samuel did. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if all of our precious children would realize the truth of that verse, “ Thou, God, seest me,” so that everything they say would be said with the conscious ness that the Lord was standing by and hearing the whole story? Then, I Samuel 2:26, we read, “And the child Samuel grew on, and was in favor both with the Lord, and also with men.” Now, quite often our chil dren think it doesn’t make any differ ence whether the neighbors like them or not. They think it makes no dif ference whether they live uprightly, godly and honestly. It’s all right if they steal or tell fibs, for who cares? We ought to remind our boys and girls that the Lord is watching and listening. So, Samuel grew on. He didn’t just grow for a week and then quit. He didn’t just go to the temple on Sunday morning and then drop out all the rest of the week. He was a boy who kept on consistently and continually walking with the Lord,
JULY, 1959
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