I Samuel 3:1-10 And the child Samuel ministered unto the LORD before Eli. And the word of the LORD was precious in those days; there was no open vision. 2 And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place, and his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see; 3 And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep; 4 That the LORD called Samuel: and he answered, Here am I. 5 And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me. And he said, I called not; lie down again. And he went and lay down. 6 And the LORD called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And he answered, I called not, my son; lie down again. 7 Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, neither was the word of the LORD yet revealed unto him. 8 And the LORD called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived that the LORD had called the child. 9 Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down: and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, LORD; for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay down in his place. 10 And the LORD came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth.
God still speaks to people. God has a desire for the people to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and be obedient to how He leads them. Unfortunately many people do not know how to respond properly when God speaks to us. There is a proper way to respond to God as He speaks to us through His Word.
In the context, Eli is the judge over Israel. He was also overseeing the Tabernacle, where the presence of God dwelt among the people. In the previous chapters, Hannah had desired and prayed for a child. When God answered her prayer, she delivered Samuel, her son, back to God for His use. Samuel grew up in the temple, working and helping Eli. Then one day God spoke to the young boy.
The Desire to Respond
As Samuel slept one night, God spoke to the boy. God was getting Samuel’s attention. Because Samuel worked for Eli, he automatically assumed it was Eli calling for him. Even after Eli informed Samuel was he had not been calling the boy, Samuel continue to try to respond, and three times he went obediently to Eli, attempting to respond the best he knew how.
Samuel was much like most of us. We feel God speaking to us as we read God’s word. We feel the calling of God’s Holy Spirit as the preacher preaches to us by God’s word. Most of us go to an old fashioned alter, attempting to respond to God’s leading and calling. Then after we get up and go home, there seems to be no difference in our life after our response.
I know for myself, I spent lots of time praying at an old fashioned alter. I would admit to God this was for me. I needed to be a better soul-winning, read my Bible more, pray more, and be more faithful and so on. However, just admitting to those things was not changing my life. I needed to be taught how to properly respond to God’s word.
How to Respond
Like Samuel, we need to be taught how to respond. Eli took Samuel and told him what to do and say the next time Samuel heard God speak to him.
For us, we also need to be taught how to respond to God. When we hear God speak to us through His Word, we need to apply it to our lives. That requires three things:
It Must Be Personal
When we hear God speak to us, we must realize that God is speaking to us. What I mean by that is God is expecting us to do something, not the person next to us or behind us. The message isn’t for someone else, or someone who isn’t there to listen to it. God is speaking to you. That means what ever decision is made, it must be personal. “I need to do thing.” “This message is for me.”
It Must be Practical
After we realize the message is for us, then we must make a real decision that we can keep. For example, it is not practical to decide you are going to read your entire Bible tomorrow. It is, however, practical to decide tomorrow at a certain time you will read a couple of chapters from your Bible. Practical is this case is something obtainable. It is something we can do in our lives. For us to make real decisions and respond to God’s word, the decision we make must be practical.
It Must be Measurable
After making a real decision, we must have a way to see if we are keeping our decision. For example, if I had decided to read a couple of chapters from my Bible at a certain time every day, at the end of the week, I can see if I have been keeping my decision. We must be accountable to the decisions we make. There must be a way to see if we have been keeping our decisions. Our decisions must be measurable.
So what happens after this? Once we learn how to respond to God, we will start becoming more obedient to God. God then will speak to us even more.
Notice the testimony of Samuel at the end of this chapter in verse 19, And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground. An application of this verse is Samuel was obedient in all that God told him to do. Every Christian should have that same desire of being obedient to everything God tells us to do. We can do that by making real decisions: decisions that are personal, practical and measurable. As we continually practice this, we will find ourselves developing the habit of being obedient to God’s word.
