Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
One day Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute. He went in to spend the night with her. The people of Gaza were told, "Samson is here!" So they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the city gate. They made no move during the night, saying, "At dawn we'll kill him."
But Samson lay there only until the middle of the night. Then he got up and took hold of the doors of the city gate, together with the two posts, and tore them loose, bar and all. He lifted them to his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron.
Judges 16:1-3
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
In Chapters 13 through 15, we have studied the life of Samson and as we have we have seen two physical traits stand out.
First, Samson is very shrewd and intelligent. We have seen where he has been able to outwit those who have tried to come against him. We have also seen how he has diabolically come up with creative ways to wreak revenge on his enemies. We will continue to see these traits used by Samson as we continue our study of him. In fact, we see them in play in our short scripture passage as the people of Gaza learn Samson is in town and they plot to kill him at dawn. Samson, however, escapes them by leaving town in the middle of the night, foiling the plan against him.
And it wasn’t just that Samson slipped out of Gaza quietly and stealthily. No…he “took hold of the doors of the city gate, together with the two posts, and tore them loose, bar and all” before lifting them on his shoulders and carrying them “to the top of the hill that faces Hebron”. This revealed Samson’s second physical trait…his strength. You’ll recall before that tore an attacking lion in pieces and broke free from bondage to strike down a thousand Philistines with a donkey’s jawbone. Such was Samson’s physical prowess.
How about you? Think for a moment about things the Lord has blessed you with. For He has given us all special abilities and talents that we are to use for His glory. And this is really the key…that we use His gifts for His glory. In fact, there should never be a time in our lives when we cease to glorify God with our actions, our words or our thoughts.
This is where Samson got into trouble in his life. There is no doubt the Lord blessed him with special gifts and talents, especially when it came to physical strength. Unfortunately, you can have all the physical strength in the world but if you don’t have spiritual strength…strength to be obedient to God…strength to fend off temptation…and strength to stay firm in faith…then you are really not strong at all but weak.
In this passage, as we have seen prior, Samson shows he is physically strong but spiritually and morally weak. For as he went to Gaza, he saw a Philistine prostitute and never hesitated to spend the night with her. Samson knew God had spoken strongly about illicit sexual behavior…and yet he chose to do it anyways. Samson also knew that God had forbidden Israel to enter into relationships with the Canaanites…and yet he chose to do it anyways. Remember that we have seen it before and we see it yet again here. Samson did what Samson wanted to do. It was all about him and his desires.
How about you? Are you as spiritually strong as you are strong in the gifts that the Lord has blessed you with? Or are you like Samson…showing that you do have strengths that you have been blessed with while also showing you are spiritually and morally bankrupt.
Friends, God expects us to be both strong in the things He has bestowed on us and equally strong in Him…strong in His word…Strong in His Spirit…strong in His truth. For it’s then and only then that we can properly honor Him and glorify Him in every aspect of our lives. God expects nothing less. God deserves nothing less. Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
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