Day 14 – Spiritual mentoring: You called me

Samuel & Eli.

1 Samuel 2:8 “Here I am, for you called me”. The word says: “And God remembered Hannah”. And she bore the son which she begged from the Lord and called him Samuel. After she weaned him, Hannah and her husband, Elkanah took sacrifices to the Tabernacle together with their young son. Hannah reminded Eli of the day she was praying on the steps of the Tabernacle.

Eli was known not only as the High Priest but also as the chosen Judge. It was a high and noble title, and he was seen as God’s man responsible for sharing God’s Word with the people, teaching them, and guiding them according to the laws of Moses. At that time, Eli did not know that he would be a mentor to Samuel, guiding him to follow in his footsteps. This was due to the wickedness of Eli’s sons and their great sin, making them unfit to be clothed in the noble robes of the High Priest. Eli, despite being the High Priest and Judge of Israel, was not perfect. He was still human and had his flaws. However, God chose him to be a mentor to young Samuel. This shows that mentoring does not require perfection; rather, God looks for obedience and a willing heart. Eli nurtured the faith of young Samuel, setting the standard for their mentoring relationship.

When the Lord called Samuel, he went to Eli each time he heard the voice of the Lord, testifying to an established relationship of trust between them. Eli was a man of prayer and knew his journey with the Lord is going to end. Eli put the mentoring of Samuel before his own interest and that of his sons and gave good instructions to equipped Samuel to take over from him. Eli trusted God in everything and he knew the important of mentoring Samuel. Samuel ministered before God and 1 Samuel 2:18 says that he was “wearing a lined ephod”. This testifies of the good mentoring that Samuel received from Eli and that Samuel at a young age felt comfortable and confidant to be a priest.

Prayer: Lord, today I want to bring the young children to You Lord. Help us as the older generation to mentor them so they can take the relay stick from us and fight a good fight in Your Name. Holy Spirit led us to have wisdom and patience for the young people. Sent us wear no one wants to go to save your children from the enemy. Amen.

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