Samuel

April 21

1 Samuel 1:19-28

True to their word

A little while after Hannah had prayed to God for a son, she became pregnant and gave birth to a son whom she named Samuel.

Every year Hannah’s family would go to offer sacrifices to the Lord at Shiloh. However that year, Hannah stayed behind with Samuel while her husband Elkanah went to offer their yearly sacrifice.

When Samuel was a bit older, Hannah and Elkanah took him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh. There they took Samuel to Eli the priest. Hannah said to Eli, “Do you remember me? I am the woman you saw praying to the Lord. I asked the Lord for a child and He has given me this boy. Now I am dedicating him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he will belong to the Lord.”

What happens when parents dedicate their child to the Lord?

If you have been in a dedication service and watched parents dedicate their child to the Lord, you may have wondered what a dedication is all about. Perhaps you were dedicated as a baby, or even as an older child, and now you wonder what difference your dedication has made in your life.

When a mother and father dedicate their child, they choose to give their son or daughter back to God even though they raise the child themselves. By offering their child to God in front of others, parents are not likely to forget their promise to teach their child about the Lord. The others who are there can pray for the child and help the parents raise the child in such a way that he or she will gladly serve the Lord.

In this way, a child is surrounded by love, care, Bible teaching, and above all, God’s grace from a very young age.

Verse for today

Then little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. Matthew 19:13a