The difference between Eli and Hannah (1 Samuel 2)
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Yesterday was Pepero Day.
When I went to the mart, they were selling sweets stacked up like a mountain to express their love with Pepero.
When giving a gift with love and devotion, the saddest moment is when the other person pays attention only to the gift without considering the person giving the gift or their feelings.
There are many such people in the Bible.
Hannah prayed and gave her son Samuel to God (1 Samuel 1:28).
That son was the meaning of life, honor, and evidence that God was with her.
To lose him was to lose all of her.
Still, rather than obsessing over the gift, she looked to the giver.
But Eli, the priest, valued his sons more than God (1 Samuel 2:29).
He was more obsessed with gifts than God who gave them.
And the ending of these two tells us a lot.
Hannah gave her only son and received three more sons and two daughters as gifts from God (1 Samuel 2:21).
However, Eli was cursed with the loss of two sons he treasured and the utter ruin of his family.
We can all easily guess the outcome of these two people.
But living like Hannah is never easy.
Can I give God what is most precious to me
Can you give your honor, wealth, or even life to God?
I've spent almost 20 years giving up my job (English teacher).
I used to think that giving something to God was a great thing to give my own. However, I have come to realize that everything is given by God, and that life is to give thanks to God for only a small part of it.
Let's pray to God for Abraham's heart to offer Isaac.
Let's pray to God that Hannah will live with the heart she gave to Samuel.
Let us struggle and pray that we may live with the heart of Jesus, who gave ourselves on the cross, and that we become imitators of the heart of the Lord.
As the Lord promised, our good and abundant God will surely reward you 100 times.
Matthew 19:29 “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for the sake of my name will receive many times more, and will inherit eternal life.”
God bless you all who devote yourself to the Lord's kingdom for God's great grace!!!