𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗠 𝗨𝗣

• When you were younger, what career or profession did you want to have? How has that changed over time?

• What’s the most recent item you bought? Did you consider its price or quality? What factor helps you determine what you will buy?

• Think about what you first notice when you look at people. What conclusions do you make based on outward appearances

𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗗

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘖𝘙𝘋 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘚𝘢𝘮𝘶𝘦𝘭, “𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘚𝘢𝘶𝘭, 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘐𝘴𝘳𝘢𝘦𝘭? 𝘍𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘪𝘭, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘰. 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘭𝘦𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘦, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘢 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴.” 𝟭 𝗦𝗔𝗠𝗨𝗘𝗟 𝟭𝟲:𝟭

(Read also 𝟭 𝗦𝗔𝗠𝗨𝗘𝗟 𝟭𝟲:𝟮–𝟭𝟯.)

When Israel demanded for a king, God called Samuel to anoint Saul as Israel’s first king. But Saul disobeyed God. So God chose another person to lead His people and called Samuel again to anoint the next king. This time, it was a young man after God’s own heart. He would go on to be one of the greatest leaders of Israel, and our Lord and Savior Jesus would come from his line. In the same way, God wants us to take part in reaching and raising the next and future generations. Today, through the story of David and Samuel, let’s learn how we can participate in what God is doing.

𝟭. 𝗪𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗚𝗼𝗱’𝘀 𝗴𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗹𝗲𝗱𝗴𝗲 𝗚𝗼𝗱’𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲.

𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦, 𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘌𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘣 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵, “𝘚𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘖𝘙𝘋’𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮.” 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘖𝘙𝘋 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘚𝘢𝘮𝘶𝘦𝘭, “𝘋𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘖𝘙𝘋 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘴: 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘖𝘙𝘋 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵.” . . . 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘖𝘙𝘋 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, “𝘈𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦.” 𝟭 𝗦𝗔𝗠𝗨𝗘𝗟 𝟭𝟲:𝟲–𝟳,𝟭𝟮

In obedience to God’s call, Samuel came to Jesse’s house and examined each of his sons. Samuel considered their appearance and stature, but God was looking at what was unseen—their hearts. When David—who was initially left out of the choices—appeared, God told Samuel that David was the chosen one. David was the youngest son who was tasked to care for his family’s sheep. Samuel obeyed and anointed David as king. God’s purposes go beyond what we usually see. We need wisdom and guidance from God so that we can raise up young people to fulfill their calling. Who are the people who saw potential in you? What did they see in you?

𝟮. 𝗪𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗚𝗼𝗱 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘂𝘀.

𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘋𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘚𝘢𝘶𝘭, “𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢 𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘣 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬 . . .” 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘋𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, “𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘖𝘙𝘋 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘸 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘸 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘗𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘦.” 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘢𝘶𝘭 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘋𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘥, “𝘎𝘰, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘖𝘙𝘋 𝘣𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶!” 𝟭 𝗦𝗔𝗠𝗨𝗘𝗟 𝟭𝟳:𝟯𝟰,𝟯𝟳

While David was but a young shepherd, he was growing in his relationship with God and faithfully fulfilled his tasks, learning many lessons which helped him face giants for God later on. When the Israelites were being attacked by the Philistines, they grew afraid because of Goliath, a giant soldier who had been taunting them and their God. David heard this and decided to face him. Others doubted his abilities. But David was confident in God, because he saw how God helped him fight beasts as a shepherd. This ultimately led to their victory. God desires for us to be faithful, regardless of the season we are in, as we wait for His purposes to unfold. What is something God has called you to do that didn’t make sense at first but became clear as you acted in faith?

𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗟𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡

• In light of God’s word, how should we look at others, especially younger people?

• In what ways is God calling you to participate in reaching the next generation? How will you obey God, as Samuel did?

• Think of one or two young people in your community or sphere of influence. How may you help them grow in their relationship with God and live out their calling and purpose in Him?

𝗣𝗥𝗔𝗬𝗘𝗥

• Thank God for His heart for the next generation. Thank Him that He calls every generation to follow Him and take part in what He is doing in our world.

• Ask God to teach you to look at others from His perspective, as He did when He chose David. Pray that God would help you do the same with young people.

• Pray for boldness and compassion to preach God’s word to and raise the next generation.