Make Sure Your House Is Clean First
When I say the name Eli, what comes to mind first? For me, it would probably be Eli Manning, football, Archie, Ole Miss, or something like that. Just being honest. It probably is not a biblical figure that firsts pops in our minds. If you look in the book of 1 Samuel, you will find a man by the name of Eli. He was a priest. He is best known as the man Hannah brought her son to when she gave him back to God as she promised. Her son’s name was Samuel.
Eli would train up Samuel in the temple. Samuel would grow up to be a strong man of God. Samuel would be the man God used to lead Israel’s first king. Samuel is the man God used to name David as Israel’s second and most popular earthly king. Eli did a great job with Samuel. Samuel grew up to be very close to God. He was used by God in a mighty way in the lives of the Israelites. However, few people recognize that Eli was also a father of two sons. Read what the Bible says about Eli’s sons:
“Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial; they knew not the Lord.” 1 Samuel 2:12
The word “belial” means “worthless, lawless, and wicked person”. Pretty strong words used to describe the sons of a priest. You would think the man responsible for training Samuel would have his household in order. Isn’t it supposed to be easier for Christians to parent? Shouldn’t our daily lives be smoother and easier since we are “God’s children”? I mean we are supposed to have it together. We should have all the answers. If anyone should have perfect children, it’s Christians. Right?
So where did Eli go wrong? It’s hard to say. There’s not a lot written about his sons. There’s nothing written about their upbringing. We can only speculate.
A common problem that we have sometimes, is we tend to take our families and our home life for granted. We pour all our efforts into work, hobbies, or outside people. We freely give of ourselves until it hurts, usually to the point that there’s nothing left to give. There’s only so much of us to go around. Most of the time, it is our families who are left doing without. Why is that? Why are we so quick to allow those most dear to us be the ones to suffer?
It is my opinion that in the back of our minds, we feel our families will always be there. There’s always time for them later. They are not going anywhere. We take them for granted. We are around them all the time. I can’t let this customer get away. I can’t let someone else get the promotion. Nobody immediately sees our success in our home life. If I am not getting recognition then it’s not worth messing with.
Eli was a good man. I don’t think that he planned on the Bible describing his sons as worthless. But he let the years get away. He was so wrapped up in his duties away from home that he let his most prized earthly possessions suffer. Eli had a great influence on Israel through Samuel. No doubt. God used Eli in a great way. Behind the scenes, Eli failed. Eli’s sons served in the temple. This was to be a sacred job. What does the Bible say about them?
“Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord: for men abhorred
the offering of the Lord.” 1 Samuel 2:17
Where was Eli as his sons disregarded God’s laws in handling the offerings? We don’t know. Why would Eli ignore this behavior? Not sure.
I have three kids. Two girls and a boy. There are days that my wife and I feel like we are fighting a losing battle against this world. Day by day our children are bombarded by Satan with temptations that try to lure them down the wrong path. We are tired. Just like everybody else. There are days that we want to let our guards down just for a minute and exhale. Let them watch this one movie. Let them listen to this one song. Commercials are so short, they probably won’t notice what they are advertising. It won’t matter if we skip church. We can have church at home. All these thoughts crawl through our minds from time to time. And the world will agree with those thoughts. Just relax this once, it won’t matter. I feel like Eli relaxed once, then again, and then again. Then one day, he looked up and his one moment of relaxation turned into years and his sons were gone.
Don’t let your legacy be like Eli’s. Your greatest success story starts at home. If you have children, hold onto them as long as possible. As tight as you can. Guard their hearts because nobody else will. They are your most prized possession, not the world’s. The world and Satan are out to destroy them not love them. They need the love of a mama and a daddy not a stranger. Rest assured that if you ignore them when they are young, they will ignore you when they are older.