Daily Devotional. And it came to pass at that time, when ELI WAS LAID DOWN IN HIS PLACE, and his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see; And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep; That the Lord called Samuel: and he answered, Here am I. 1 Samuel 3:2-4. Eli was the Priest, once called of God, who has now lost interest in the church and doing what the Lord has called him to do. He is tired of fighting battles and has given in to the good, easy life. In his early days of ministry, (today we use the term, “In My Ministry”), Eli did hear from the Lord and did obey the Lord. As time moved on and his ministry grew, he learned how to enjoy the fat of the land instead of feasting at the Lord’s Table. His desire for the good life got so bad, he would Take from the people what he wanted, instead of Give to the people what they needed. His ministry started off, for the people, and ended up, for his Self. God was pushed to the back seat, God takes the back seat to nobody, so God took out Eli. In layman’s terms, He killed Eli and raised up Samuel. As a child, Samuel learned from Eli, some things, of the Lord. It didn’t take people long to figure out the Hand of the Lord was now on Samuel, and off Eli. Here’s the point, the Mantle of the Lord was on Eli for a while, until Eli showed his true heart attitude and was able to get all He really wanted, the Good Life, without God. Here’s how to “spiritualize” this. “Look how greatly God has blessed my ministry”, meaning, “I have everything I’ve ever wanted”. The problem is, somewhere along the way, God was forgotten, He’s missing, AND NO ONE’S NOTICED. When the Priest becomes blind, you end up with the blind leading the blind, then, who can, Be Blessed?
