IMITATE THEIR FAITH/He "Continued Growing Up With Jehovah

Samuel looked into the faces of his people.  The nation had gathered at the town of Gilgal, summoned by this faithful man who had served as prophet and judge for decades. It was May or June by modern reckoning; the dry season was well along. The fields in the region were golden with wheat ready for harvest. Silence fell over the crowd. How could Samuel reach their hearts? 

The people did not understand how serious their situation was.  They had insisted on having a human king to rule over them.  They did not grasp that they had shown gross disrespect to their God, Jehovah, and to his prophet.  They were, in effect, rejecting Jehovah as their King! How could Samuel move them to repentance?

Samuel spoke. "I have grown old and gray," he told the crowd.  His whitening hair added weight to his words. He then said:  "I have walked before you from my youth until this day."  (Samuel 11:14, 15; 12:2)  Though Samuel was old, he had not forgotten his youth. His memories of those early days were still vivid. The decisions he had made back then, as a growing boy, had led him to a life of faith and devotion to his God, Jehovah. 

Again and again, Samuel had to build and maintain faith, although surrounded by people who were faithless and disloyal.  Today, it is just as challenging to build faith, for we live in a faithless and corrupt world. Let us see what we can learn from Samuel's example, starting in his early boyhood. 

Next time: IMITATE THEIR FAITH/He "Continued Growing Up With Jehovah -"Ministering Before Jehovah, as a Boy" 

From the Watchtower magazine