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1 Samuel 3: 1-20
During the time young Samuel was minister to the LORD under Eli,
a revelation of the LORD was uncommon and vision infrequent.
One day Eli was asleep in his usual place.
His eyes had lately grown so weak that he could not see.
The lamp of God was not yet extinguished,
and Samuel was sleeping in the temple of the LORD
where the ark of God was.
The LORD called to Samuel, who answered, “Here I am.”
Samuel ran to Eli and said, “Here I am. You called me.”
“I did not call you,” Eli said. “Go back to sleep.”
So he went back to sleep.
Again the LORD called Samuel, who rose and went to Eli.
“Here I am,” he said. “You called me.”
But Eli answered, “I did not call you, my son. Go back to sleep.”
At that time Samuel was not familiar with the LORD,
because the LORD had not revealed anything to him as yet.
The LORD called Samuel again, for the third time.
Getting up and going to Eli, he said, “Here I am.
You called me.”
Then Eli understood that the LORD was calling the youth.
So Eli said to Samuel, “Go to sleep, and if you are called, reply,
‘Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.’”
When Samuel went to sleep in his place,
the LORD came and revealed his presence,
calling out as before, “Samuel, Samuel!”
Samuel answered, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”
Samuel grew up, and the LORD was with him,
not permitting any word of his to be without effect.
Thus all Israel from Dan to Beersheba
came to know that Samuel was an accredited prophet of the LORD.
The Word of the Lord.
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Imagine you’re at a show in Las Vegas. Some popular magician has just walked onto a stage set with all sorts of props – a cage, boxes, saws, wands, swords, and so on.
After prepping the crowd, raising their expectations, he declares his need for help from the audience. Suddenly, you find his finger pointing right at you.
Like everyone else around you, your neck keeps turning as you seek to identify who the “unlucky” winner is. No, it’s not your neighbor.
It’s you.
The magician has called you onto stage.
Anyone who isn’t inclined to risk, who isn’t extroverted or a daredevil, might be a bit unhappy with this magician’s choice; you didn’t buy your ticket only to become another prop on his stage!
But there you are. The audience roars. The time has come to stand up and go.
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Though there is nothing “magical” about our faith, that sensation of being chosen – and feeling like you’re the last one fit for the job – happens quite frequently in the bible.
In our first reading, for example, God chooses Samuel to be his servant. Samuel’s young and inexperienced, but he becomes one of the great prophets of the Old Testament, preparing the way for Jesus.
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Like an unexpecting spectator, Samuel could’ve said, “Why me? Why not him or her?”
But hear his response: “Here I am, Lord…Your servant is listening.”
How might our day change if we repeated Samuel’s words, “Here I am Lord” ?
I come to do your will.
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Image credits: (1) Fine Art America, Unique Trees (2) The Conversation (3) God Encounters Ministries