Word for the day by Christian Education Forum
Jesus
Christ Hope of Salvation
Vs
27 “For this child I prayed and the Lord
has granted me my petition which I asked of Him.”
In
a funeral service a father who was broken gave a beautiful eulogy for his
daughter Marta at the conclusion he concluded as follows “ For those of us who
trust Christ as our Lord & Savior we will continue to see Marta but
for those who have not this will be the last time you will ever see her again”
This
book of Samuel is the most interesting as Samuel was the Last Judge kind of
throwing a window open to another time when the world will be Judged and what a
hopeless situation it will be if we are found on the guilty side of the
verdict. Two Important people are shown in this book one is Hannah
meaning Favored and the other is Peninnah meaning Ruby. We also see that the
times were just like ours evil was prevalent as the Sons of Eli the priest were
evil. A time were cold hearted Ruby would pull down the favored Hannah by her
ridicule and taunts. Hannah on the other hand could not conceive and was
praying for that child and heaven seemed to not hear her at all. A picture of
total despair and hopelessness.
One
thing that caught my attention was found in an earlier verse 9(b) “Now Eli the
priest was sitting on the seat by the doorpost of the tabernacle of
the Lord.” KJV. The favored
weeping and broken in front of the tabernacle? That did not make sense because
the temple was only built by Solomon right now was this not a tent? As we
continue to read the story we see that Hannah was restored because she found
the favor when she prayed what God wanted to establish through her life.
The
same is for us as well, our lives make no sense unless there is that hope for
the eternal. This can only be found in the person of Christ. We may have been
favored, but humiliated beyond our capacity, the world around us is evil – have
we taken a moment to realize no matter what the circumstances are around us
there is only one hope and that is in Christ alone for our Salvation. Just like
Hannah when she realized it acted on faith Vs 18 “ And she
said, “Let your maidservant find favor in your sight.” So the woman went her
way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.” Let us rise with this new
boldness that we can approach the father because of the new found favor we have
and will receive what we ask if it is in his will.
Prayer : Lord, in the midst of all the noises of the world, let me
hear that quiet call you make to my heart pulling me close to you and assuring
me of your salvation because I believe in the finished work that you did for us
and accept you as My Lord & Savior. Lord let me be an instrument to spread
this Good news that you are the Hope of this dying world.
Thought for the day: No one is hopeless whose hope is in God
Prakash. V. Thomas, NJMTC, Randolph