Eli

It is the Lord; let him do what seems good to him.

 - From 1 Samuel 3

Eli was a pretty good man. He was a priest, and for his time, quite diligent. He lived in a time when God was not terribly active in the world, and in Israel. The Bible says that there was not much prophecy, and the Word of God was rare. 

There are a lot of people today, that don't know a thing about Scripture. It's like today, where church membership is on the decline. And while people may watch evangelists on TV, and read best-selling books written by Christian authors, and participate in Bible study groups, Sunday Schools, and special ministries in their church . . . still a passion for God's word, where people dig deep and let it challenge and change them, seems lacking.

Eli had no control over his own family, and house. His sons were "blasphemers." They openly mocked the mission of their father, and got away with it. They spent their time in self-absorbed pursuits. They deserved to be happy. 

There was a pastor in town, when I was a teenager. He was well-liked by his congregation, and was held in some high esteem in town. But his kids were among the wildest kids in the schools. Eli's era was something like this. Faith was very weak, and those that served in the ministry had to get along. They kept quiet, and stayed in their place. 

But he had one powerful redeeming value. When God acted to straighten out Eli's lapses of leadership, Eli proclaimed: "It is the Lord. He can do whatever He wants."

This one little act of acceptance and trust, by one of the few spiritual leaders of the day,  by recalling the attitudes of Abraham and Moses, may have been the turned corner that got Israel back on the right path. It had an impact on young Samuel . . . who would figure quite prominently in the next big phase of Israel's life.