Daily Devotional for Thursday, June 1

Hannah’s Offerings for Samuel to God 

“And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bullocks, and one ephah of flour, and a bottle of wine, and brought him unto the house of the LORD in Shiloh: and the child was young. And they slew a bullock, and brought the child to Eli,” 1 Samuel 1:24-25.

In many parts of the world, during times of trouble, war, genocide, and extreme poverty, mothers have given up their children to others that would be better able to take care of them, keep them safe, and offer them a better life full of opportunity. I wonder if these parents honestly realized at the time how much it would cost them to give them up for their betterment. Parents all around the world show their love for their children by sacrificing daily for their children so they can thrive and excel in this life.  Hannah wanted a child more than anything, more specifically a male child, and she vowed a vow to God that if God would give her this child that she would repay that vow with the child himself (1 Samuel 1:11). Did she really know what this vow would cost her when the time came for her to give her son over to the service of the Lord? 

Under the Law, when a person made a vow to the Lord, there were specific instructions on how to give a sacrificial offering to repay that vow (Numbers 15:8-13). If you were to go by the instructions given in the book of Numbers, then Hannah brought enough for three sacrificial offerings to the Lord. But was this the real sacrifice that she brought before the Lord? I dare say that the real sacrifice for Hannah was that of giving back to the Lord her only son that she had waited so long for.

THOUGHT: If Children are a gift from God (Psalms 127:3), our sacrifices for them should always be used to lead them to a life back to Him.

Tim Chambers