Beginning of the End - Ellen G. White

those living in Kirjath Jearim, inviting them to take it away. With
joy the people of this place welcomed the sacred chest and placed it
in the house of Abinadab, a Levite. This man appointed his son
Eleazar to take charge of it, and it remained there for many years.
The whole nation had come to acknowledge Samuel's call as a
prophet. He had given proof of his allegiance by faithfully
delivering the divine warning to the house of Eli, painful and
difficult as the duty had been. "And the Lord was with him and let
none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to
Beersheba knew that Samuel had been established as a prophet of
the Lord."
Samuel visited the cities and villages throughout the land,
hoping to turn the hearts of the people to the God of their fathers,
and his efforts brought good results. After suffering the oppression
of their enemies for twenty years, the Israelites "lamented after the
Lord." Samuel counseled them, "'If you return to the Lord with all
your hearts, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths from
among you, and prepare your hearts for the Lord, and serve Him
only.'" Practical religion was taught in the days of Samuel, as Christ
also taught it when He was on earth.
Repentance is the first step that everyone who wants to return
to God must take. Individually we must humble our souls before
God and put away our idols. When we have done all that we can do,
the Lord will show us His salvation.
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