Saturday, May 7, 2016

May I "borrow" your child???

And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine, and she brought him to the house of the LORD at Shiloh. And the child was young. Then they slaughtered the bull, and they brought the child to Eli. And she said, “Oh, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who was standing here in your presence, praying to the LORD. For this child I prayed, and the LORD has granted me my petition that I made to him. Therefore I have lent him to the LORD. As long as he lives, he is lent to the LORD.” And he worshiped the LORD there. (1 Samuel 1:24-28 ESV)
What an emotional moment!!! A mother, bringing her only child, a long-awaited child, to leave him at the tabernacle to grow up to serve God. Almost unimaginable. And she "lends" him to the LORD? She is responding to God's grace to her. The word she uses is the same word as "prayed". Samuel is the answer to her prayer, so it is only fitting that she answer the answered prayer like giving what God had given. This son was lent by God to her; now she is lending him back. Long-term lending. Lifetime lending. She and God are speaking each other's language. She trusts God, and realizes that in lending, she is not losing, because God is good and full of grace. Do we speak with God so clearly? Do we trust Him so fully?

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