Devotional
for the Week 16 July 2007
Master,
speak! Thy Servant hears!
Scripture Text: 1
Samuel 3: 1-21
A
mobile phone is useful but only if a good network connection is
available. If you need to speak with someone urgently and cannot
do so because there is poor network connection, this can be most
frustrating. It is the same with God. It must be so frustrating
for God when He is trying to speak to us and the connection is
“down” because we are too busy to hear Him.
In today’s passage, we are presented with 2 priests, Eli
and Samuel, his successor. In Proverbs, we are told that when
there is no prophetic word, the people go astray. Implicitly,
this means that God speaks to His people and leads them through
life. During Eli’s tenure as priests, we are told that visions
were rare (v1). This suggests that Israel was going through a
spiritual drought. Eli, as chief priest, was obviously not listening
to God. When Eli passed the baton to Samuel, God spoke through
Samuel. We are told in verse 21 that “The Lord continued
to appear at Shiloh, there he revealed himself to Samuel through
his word. And Samuel’s word came to all Israel.” There
was spiritual revival.
There are three lessons we can learn about hearing the voice of
God.
1.
Hearing God’s voice is costly as it requires obedience
Many people hear God but have selective hearing. Where what is
said does not suit them, they turn a deaf ear. Why then should
they be surprised if God does not talk to them? When you hear
God, He may be asking you to do something for Him that may be
costly. For example, in the day of Moses, the Israelites did not
want to go to Mount Sinai to hear God. They asked Moses to go
instead and he did, with Joshua, and they both came down with
a great commission. This was the same with Hosea. God instructed
him to marry a prostitute but this was for a reason. God’s
plan was to show the Israelites that God, the lover, can redeem
unfaithful Israel, the prostitute.
2.
Hearing God requires a clean heart
There may be sins in our lives that prevent us from hearing God.
For example, pride, anger, bitterness, unforgiveness, envy and
selfish competition. In the day of Moses, the people preferred
to keep a distance from God because their hearts were far from
God. God’s warning to them against making graven images
and committing idolatry, was a tell-tale sign of their spiritual
condition. While Moses was up in the holy mountain, the people
could not wait for his return and built themselves a golden calf
to worship with shameless pagan revelry and sacrifices. When your
heart is far from God, you will not want to hear Him.
During Eli’s priesthood, God did not speak much to Eli as
Eli’s heart was far from God. God rebuked him for taking
offerings for himself and for failing to discipline his two sons,
Hophni and Phinehas, when they stole the Lord’s offering
and committed gross sexual sins at the entrance of the Tent of
Meeting (Samuel 2:27-30). In contrast, Samuel honoured God and
so, even though Samuel was young and but an altar boy at the time,
God began to speak to him. Perhaps the godly influence of Samuel’s
mother, Hannah, rubbed off on Samuel.
All sins give the devil a foothold and prevent you from hearing
God. Deal with these obstacles so that you can hear God speak.
3.
Hearing God is a requirement for all disciples
Hearing God is a requirement for all disciples of Jesus Christ.
John 10:4-5 says that God’s sheep knows God’s voice
and that Jesus is the chief shepherd.
When God is speaking, are you listening?
Prayer
Response
Dear
Lord Jesus, I am thankful that I have a God who speaks to His
people, guiding them and correcting them. Please show me what
part of my life I need to change so that I can hear you more effectively.
Help me also to have an obedient heart so that I can carry out
your instructions. Thank you Lord for hearing my prayers.
Devotional
based on message by Rev Vincent Goh.