DCLM Daily Manna Thursday 26 October 2023
TOPIC: The Wisdom of Eli
KEY VERSE
“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.”
(1 Samuel 3:9)
TEXT: 1 Samuel 3:1-10 (KJV)
3 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.
DCLM Daily Manna Thursday 26 October 2023 MESSAGE
An African proverb states that what an elder can see lying down, a young man may not see even if he climbs a very tall tree. Experience is a lesson that comes with age. The older one gets in life, the more one realises there are better ways of handling issues. Eli the high priest was a man who knew God in the past. Although things had deteriorated to the point that God was no longer communicating with him, he was still able to recognise when God speaks and ministers to His own children. Samuel, on the other hand, was a young inexperienced lad who did not recognise the voice of God.
READ DCLM Daily Manna Wednesday 25 October 2023 – Undue Pressure on Leadership
When God called him, he continued to run to Eli in response, until the old priest pointed him to God. As they say, experience matters. It cannot be bought. Young people sometimes look down on older people and think their time has gone. Many young ministers may look at the elderly and aging people like Eli and think that since “the word of the LORD was precious in those days; there was no open vision”. They can do away with the counsel of the elders.
King Rehoboam made such a mistake when he ignored the counsel of the elders and heeded his peers’ advice. The event proved very costly for him and the nation. While we must be watchful against old ‘priests’ who seek to mislead young people, we must equally obey the Scripture’s injunction that “Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I am the LORD” (Leviticus 19:32).
Seeking proper counsel from elderly Christians is good and necessary for the young to keep their vision of God fresh and continuous.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Wise people learn from the mistakes of others.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Jeremiah 13-14
