Speak, LORD, for Your servant is listening.

Utterly profound words!

Profound enough, in fact, to be Samuel’s compass for the rest of his life. And from that day on he never wavered. His ears were attuned to everything the LORD said. 

 Just as profound, but in a sad way, is the fact that those words were uttered by a man who did not listen carefully to the LORD. At least not in a listening-that-resulted-in-obedience sort of way.

These two men are put before us as examples, and to cause us to consider how well we listen. 

Joyce Young shared with me some excellent questions we can use for self-evaluation. I pass them along here:

Do I give my full attention when God is speaking? 
Do I hide His word in my heart so that I can make changes in my attitudes and actions?
Do I hear God’s word, but don’t really listen?
Do I know what God wants me to do, but put it off till later?

Thank you, Joyce. I think.