“‘I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the LORD. For his whole life he will be given over to the LORD.’ And he worshiped the LORD there.” – 1 Samuel 1:27-28
Hannah knew her son was a gift from God, and she could give him back to God. Hannah couldn’t guarantee how Samuel would turn out. But Hannah trusted God with her son’s life, saying, ‘For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord.’
If you have a child, think of what it would mean to give that child to God and to see yourself as a teacher and shaper of a human soul who belongs to God. When you talk to him, when you reach out to correct some behavior, when you decide to take him to church, when he asks you a question, you are responding to God’s property.
The thousands upon thousands of decisions you make in regard to your child through his or her lifetime shape a living soul whom God has entrusted to your care. You may not have given your child back to God like Hannah did in these verses, but that doesn’t change the fact that he or she is God’s gift to you. Why not stop right now and pray verse 28, inserting your child’s name in the first sentence: “So now I give_____ to the Lord. For his or her whole life he or she will be given over to the Lord.”
If you have no children, think of the young people and others whom you come into contact with. All people, no matter what their age, have been created in God’s image and deserve the dignity of that position. Keep in mind that when you respond to another person, you’re responding to God’s child.
A devotional from the Promise Keepers Study Bible