Greetings in the matchless name of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

1 Samuel 9: 15 (a): Now the Lord had told Samuel in his ear the day before Saul came.

Doesn’t it fill hearts with joy reading this very line? – The Lord told Samuel in his ear! From the life of Samuel, the Lord is showing us a great message, as far as we believers are concerned – the personal relationship with the Lord.

In 1 Samuel 3: 4-10; wherein Samuel the prophet of God, receives his first prophecy from God. We saw that when Lord spoke to Samuel for the first time here, he could not recognize that it was the Lord calling him, but once he realises, he gives a touching reply – “Speak, for Your servant hears”.

Ever since his first personal talk with God, Samuel’s personal relationship with God escalated and grew bigger day by day. When we come to 1 Samuel 9:15 and then on, we read that He was so close with the Lord, that the Lord told in his ear!

Oh! Just like two close friends always whispering into each other’s ears, that was the relation that Samuel had with the Lord! Also we read that Samuel heeded the voice of the Lord at a time of lowest spiritual point as far as the children of Israel were concerned.

Today, we have the Word of God in our hands, the Word through which the Lord speaks to us! The question, how many times have we paid heed to His word. Moreover, has our spiritual relationship with Christ grown any further ever since we first met Him?

The major drawback of the children of Israel in these portions was that they neglected and paid no heed to the Word of God.

In 1 Samuel 2: 27- 36; we see the Lord being extremely sorrowful. We see around 30 times the words “I” , “My”, “Myself” mentioned wherein the Lord tells, “My altar, My sacrifice, My offering, My dwelling place, etc. The Lord is sorrowful, for the people disregarded Him, His Words, His sacrifices. What a great sin was that!

But inspite of these atrocities of the people at that time, when the people repented and lamented, although after many years later in 1 Sam 7: 2-9; the Lord out of abundance of mercy heard their repentance and their cry and received them back to His presence. Our Lord is a merciful Lord and will never reject one with a heart of repentance!

Dear ones,
We also are living in a world filled with all sorts of wickedness. But let’s hold onto the Word of God and heed His voice. Just like Samuel, may we also enjoy, listening from the Lord, learning from Him through the Word of God given to us. May this Bible reading program pave a way for us to do so. Moreover let’s not only be hearers but also doers of the Word of God ( James 1: 22-25)

In Christ
Femi Jenson