12 Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the Lord.

13-16 The custom of the priests with the people was that when any man offered sacrifice, the priest's servant (young man) would come, while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged fork in his hand, and he would thrust it into the pan or kettle or cauldron or pot. All that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is what they did at Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. Moreover, before the fat was burned, the priest's servant (young man) would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give meat for the priest to roast, for he will not accept boiled meat from you but only raw.” And if the man said to him, “Let them burn the fat first, and then take as much as you wish,” he would say, “No, you must give it now, and if not, I will take it by force.” 17 Thus the sin of the young men was very great in the sight of the Lord, for the men treated the offering of the Lord with contempt.

18 Samuel was ministering before the Lord, a boy clothed with a linen ephod. 19-20 And his mother used to make for him a little robe and take it to him each year when she went up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. Then Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, and say, “May the Lord give you children by this woman for the petition she asked of the Lord.” So then they would return to their home. Indeed the Lord visited Hannah, and she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. 21 And the young man Samuel grew in the presence of the Lord. 1 Samuel 2:12-21 English Standard Version

The scene described in vs 13-16 of people bringing an animal to a priest, which was then sacrificed to the Lord, will be very unfamiliar in modern Western society. Many will regard such a scene as just superstitions of a past uncivilized generation. But what happened there goes all the way back to the days of Adam. We read in Genesis 4:4 that one of Adam's sons, Abel, “brought of the firstborn of his flock, and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering.” Abel seems to have realized that not only was God worthy of offerings of thanksgiving, but that a sacrifice was needed as a substitute for his sins.

Over a thousand years later when God gave Moses commandments for the people He had rescued out of Egypt, He said: “It shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations, in all your dwelling places, that you eat neither fat nor blood.” Leviticus 3:17. God went on to say that “every person who eats of the fat of an animal of which a food offering may be made to the Lord shall be cut off from his people.” Leviticus 7:25. The fat and the blood of the sacrifice were consecrated to God. This is why we read the words of verse 17 that “the sin of the young men was very great in the sight of the Lord, for the men treated the offering of the Lord with contempt.” But what was the underlying cause of the behaviour of Eli's sons? (vs 12)

Those words show the stark difference between knowing all about the the Lord - and knowing Him in a personal relationship way. As Eli's sons they had probably learned all about God. They'd grown up in 'a religious home'. But they never called upon the name of the Lord for themselves. And as a result, their lives became worthless. But what are we told about young Samuel in vs 18 & 21.

While Eli's sons showed only contempt for God, Samuel's life showed consecration. Even the secular Wikipedia dictionary defines consecration as “the transfer of a person or a thing to the sacred sphere for a special purpose or service. The word consecration literally means 'association with the sacred'”. Now I may be reading too much into this, but do you think vs 19-20 could have had any bearing on how Samuel was turning out to be the man he eventually became?

The prayers and love of such a God fearing mother must surely have played a role in his life. I sometimes wonder too if, while Eli had taught his children about God, he had neglected to discipline them as they began to show signs of worthless pursuits? We don't know. And, at the end of the day, people make their own choices as to whether they will hold God in contempt, or seek to live lives that are consecrated to Him. May God's grace enable us to choose wisely between those two.