Click Here – 1 Samuel 2:12-36.
This passage says a lot to us about parenting (or how NOT to parent) while still showing us God’s unending faithfulness. Reread verse 12. Eli’s sons were considered worthless men. They did not know the LORD. What makes this even more amazing was that his sons were serving before the Lord in the tabernacle. In the first half of our reading we see how corrupt they were – embezzling the offerings meant for the Lord and keeping them for themselves, and performing ritualistic sex before the tabernacle of the LORD (something that was common for other religions, but never in the worship of the one true God).
What is the one most important thing you can do as a parent? Make sure your children know the LORD. Bring them to worship every week. Bring them to Sunday School (and help out or attend and adult class yourself!). Read family devotions and pray at home with them. Make sure they know the LORD is their Savior.
The second thing that stands out in this passage is the faithfulness of God. Because those He had appointed to be priests before Him (the Levites) were not doing their jobs, He would go outside the bounds previously set and appoint a person from another tribe (Ephraim) to be His priest, and to provide a Godly leader for His chosen people. God is truly faithful!