Committing people to God....

A number of folk have been asking about a word I gave in church this morning (11:15 service). Thought it might help to put it here. Praying it will be a blessing to you:

"For a few weeks the Lord has been challenging me on committing things to Him, especially committing our children to Him.

The story of the birth of Samuel has struck me so forcibly. We read in the First Book of Samuel that Hannah committed her as-yet unborn child to God. She honoured the vow, that if she had a child, then she would “give him back to the Lord all the days of his life”, but it was a joint commitment by her and Elkanah, Samuel’s father. They both agreed, and they both honoured the vow.

But it was not an easy vow to honour. Not only was Samuel very young when he left to serve in the Temple, but he was to serve at a point in Israel’s history where Eli’s sons, Hophni and Phineas, brought the priesthood into shame and disrepute. We are told that they were “wicked, and had no regard for the Lord.” (1 Sam 2:12), they were “treating the Lord’s offerings with contempt” (1 Sam 2:17), and they “slept with the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting” (1 Sam 2:22)

It would have been easy, understandable and justifiable for Hannah and Elkanah to get Samuel out of such an atmosphere. I think they would have felt highly protective, and not want Samuel exposed to such sinfulness. They could have said that the circumstances had changed so much, that the vow was null and void.

But they had committed Him to God, and believed that He would protect their son. The only things we are told, is that they made an annual trip to see Him, at the time of their yearly sacrifice, and that they brought with them a new robe each year. They did not panic, and go up to see him more often. They simply made provision for his growth – fully assured that he would indeed flourish and grow in the place God intended him to be.

Who have you committed to God’s care? Your children, be they young, or fully grown, may often be in places and circumstances that concern you greatly. The world has never been an easy or stable place in which to raise families. But God is able, and more than capable, of caring for them, protecting them, and using them in just such environments. Samuel went on to become one of the most significant figures in Israel’s history, using the experience from those formative years in a powerful way.

2 Tim 1:12 reads:
"For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. (KJV)"