Hi everyone. Welcome back to my 4 Good Kids of the Bible series. Before I start I want to encourage you to check out my friend Sasha's blog. Today we are going to look at a really good kid. His name was Samuel. Now, if you know my dad, you know that one of his favourite words is 'context.' For Samuel we are going to look at the context.
First of all, Samuel's dad was married to 2 women- Hannah and Peninnah. Peninnah had lots of kids, but Hannah didn't and couldn't have any. One time, when the family was going to the annual time of sacrificing in another town, Hannah prayed to God for a child. This wasn't the first time that Hannah had prayed to God for a child, but it was a special time. Hannah promised to dedicate her child to the Lord if the Lord would give her one. Eli, the priest, came in as Hannah was praying and told her that the Lord had answered her prayer. Sure enough, later that year a beautiful baby boy was born to Hannah. She was so grateful to the Lord that she named her baby, you know it..... Samuel, which means 'heard of God'. So, Hannah gave her son to God and Samuel lived at the temple with none other than Eli, the priest (who had 2 wicked sons, but, well that's another story).
Samuel grew to be a mighty man of God. When he was still a young man the Lord spoke to Samuel. He told him of things He was going to do to Eli's family. Samuel grew in the Lord. He experienced some great things, too. Samuel anointed the man after God's own heart, David, king. Samuel was a judge, and a follower of God. Me, as a kid and any other kid reading this, should know that we don't need to live in a church and be raised by a pastor (well, with the exception of me and other PK's) to follow after God. We can be raised by a lumberjack and a magician and still grow and follow after God. That is an encouragement to you kids, and an encouragement to encourage your kids, to the parents and adults. (Did you get that?)