How can a Hebrew Bible story of Mother-to-be, Hannah, (who promises to give back her child to serve God in the Temple if only God will grant her the joy of becoming pregnant after so many fruitless years of being barren) have any relevance to our lives today? No mother I've ever encountered weaned her child and then took him to the priest to live in the church. There must be something more to the story of 1 Samuel 1: 4-20
The bigger context of this story is that the tribes of Israel (until now loosely confederated) are moving into a time of becoming a kingdom. Born to Hannah in response to her pleading and praying to God for a child, Samuel grows to become the powerful priest who select King Saul and begins the transition to an Israel united under the King David dynasty that genealogically results in the birth of Jesus many many generations later.
All Hannah has to do is to keep her vow to God and give back her precious son to God! As disciples of Jesus, we too are called to give back to God - something perhaps as precious as our children. In response to God's gifts of blessings and shalom, we respond with gratitude by offering our time to serve, our talents to witness the love of Christ for us, and our resources for the benefit of the kingdom, which is being established here and now. In giving back, we continue a living, loving, lasting legacy of Christian faith which is our privilege and our thanksgiving.
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