"Speak, for Your Servant Is Listening"

 It was nearly morning but still dark; the flickering light of the tent's great lamp was still burning. In the stillness, Samuel heard a voice calling is name. He thought it was Eli who was now very old and nearly blind. Samuel got up; and "went running" to the old man. Can you see the boy in your mind's eye, hurrying to see what Eli needed? It is touching to note that Samuel treated Eli with respect and kindness. In spite of all his sins, Eli was still Jehovah's high priest. - 1 Samuel 3:2-5.

Samuel woke Eli, saying: "Here I am, for you called me." But Eli said that he had not called and sent the boy back to bed. Well, the same thing happened again and then again! Finally, Eli realized what was going on. It had become rare for Jehovah to send a vision or a prophetic message to his people, and it is not hard to see why. But Eli knew that Jehovah was speaking to again-to this boy! Eli told Samuel to go back to bed and instructed him on how to answer properly. Samuel obeyed. Soon he heard the voice calling: "Samuel, Samuel!" the boy answered: "Speak, for your servant is listening." -1 SAMUEL 3:1, 5-10.

Jehovah did, at last, have a servant in Shiloh who was listening. That became Samuel's life pattern. Is it yours? We do not have to wait for a supernatural voice in the night to speak to us. Today, God's voice is always there for us in a sense. It is there in his completed Word, the Bible. The more we listen to God and respond, the more our faith will grow. So it was with Samuel.

Next time: "Speak, for Your Servant Is Listening" - Conclusion

From the jw.org publications

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