Scripture:
1 Samuel 3:15-21 ESV
[15] Samuel lay until morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the Lord. And Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli. [16] But Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son.” And he said, “Here I am.” [17] And Eli said, “What was it that he told you? Do not hide it from me. May God do so to you and more also if you hide anything from me of all that he told you.” [18] So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. And he said, “It is the Lord. Let him do what seems good to him.” [19] And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. [20] And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established as a prophet of the Lord. [21] And the Lord appeared again at Shiloh, for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the Lord.
Observation:
Samuel had just received some hard truth from GOD HIMSELF and it wasn’t like he could hide it. Eli called Samuel to him because he knew that the LORD had been speaking to him the night before. I believe it was all a test. Samuel was a prophet of the LORD, and GOD needed to know whether he would speak what he was told or if he would sugarcoat it. You see GOD had spoken some hard truth to Samuel about Eli’s sons and the LORD was about to repay them for their behavior. I’m sure this is not the first report Samuel wanted to deliver. But as you read in the scripture Eli didn’t give him a choice. Not to mention the fact that GOD spoke this to him for a reason. HE wanted it to be known. Samuel told Eli everything and Eil’s response was everything it could be. You can’t stop GOD. So be it. From that point forward GOD established Samuel as a prophet of the LORD. He grew in his walk and not one word spoken to him fell to the ground. He spoke for GOD and when he spoke people listened.
Application:
To be trusted to speak GOD’s word is not a small thing. The Bible gives a very stern warning about adding to or taking away from GOD’s word. We need to be able to say the truth in a manner that does not cut their ear off. Yes, when you speak what GOD says sometimes people get offended. That’s not the goal. Sometimes the truth hurts and people are not ready to hear it. Let’s take a look at the moments before the crucifixion. The people are asked who they wanted to be set free Barabas or the Christ. Their answer tells us their heart. As does ours when they were crying out to release a killer what they were saying is we want our sin give us our sin let the innocent man die…we want our sin. I say that to make a point when someone speaks the word of GOD to us and we get offended and don’t want to listen that is exactly what we are crying out. My other point is this. For those whom GOD has trusted to speak HIS word, we can not allow that to water down what GOD has said. We have to speak the truth but it has to be done lovingly. That being said. I want to make it clear that. When we speak GOD’s word carelessly we can push people away rather than draw them near. So be careful how you speak it. There is now therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. You can never go wrong with the truth. Honesty without compassion can be brutal.
Prayer:
Father, we never want to set out to hurt anyone, and we know from our own experiences that sometimes the truth hurts. We want to ask you today to guide our words. So that when we speak we speak what you want us to without shooting down the ears of those who are listening. We know that some will get offended no matter how it’s said and we ask you to forgive us for that. We never intend to offend. Just help us to speak with compassion. Knowing that it’s your truth that sets us free. When we see who we really are in the light of your word. It helps us to mold and shape our lives around the instructions you gave us. Let is not be so blinded that we are unwilling to speak the truth but when we speak the truth let us speak it out of a heart of lol with clear motives. It’s in the mighty name of Jesus I pray amen.