Samuel grew before the Lord

And the LORD visited Hannah, so that she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile the child Samuel grew before the LORD... And the child Samuel grew in stature, and in favor both with the LORD and men. – 1 Samuel 2.21,26

On one hand we have the sad and tragic story of the sons of Eli – and more about them later.

On the other hand we have the wonderful story of Samuel growing up. We already know that Samuel served the Lord from childhood. Here we read that he grew before the Lord, he grew physically, he grew spiritually, and he grew socially.

This reminds me of when we read about how Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and in favour with God and man.

Why did Eli’s sons do so badly and Samuel do so well? I think it is in the words ‘Samuel grew before the Lord.’

Samuel’s mom and dad had prepared him properly for the Lord’s service. Something they did in the years they had him made a difference. From what we read of Eli’s parenting the teaching did not come from him.

Samuel grew before the Lord. Are we doing our part to see that our children and grandchildren and children we work with are growing before the Lord. All we can do is all we can do, they will have to decide one day if they are going to follow on.

But while we have them it is our solemn task to see that they grow before the Lord.