Sampson: Gifted But Unguarded (Part 2) By Babatunde Olugboji
Samson, the strongest man who ever lived, and one of the most prominent characters in the Bible was taken down as a result of lack of self-control concerning women. This week, we’ll continue our series on this gifted by unguarded strongman.
Eventually, Samson met Delilah in the Valley of Sorek (Judges 16:4). By this time, the Philistine leaders were desperate to discover the source of his strength. They offered Delilah money to uncover his secret.
Repeatedly, she pressed Samson: “Tell me the secret of your great strength.”
At first Samson played games with her, seeking to slither out of her grasp. He lied. He joked. He gave incorrect answers. But the frightening thing is that every answer moved him a little closer to the truth. That is often how compromise works. People don’t wake up one morning and decide to destroy their lives. They shift gradually but progressively. One conversation. One compromise. One secret. One boundary crossed. One rationalization. One more step.
Samson was playing with something that sought to destroy him. And eventually: “He told her all his heart.” Judges 16:17. That sentence should make us pause. He told the wrong person what should have remained sacred. What should have been kept secret. Samson finally revealed that no razor had ever touched his head because he had been set apart to God from birth.
Delilah realized that this time he had told the truth. She lulled him to sleep on her knees, and while he slept, a man shaved off the seven locks of his hair. Then Delilah startled him with a shout: “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” Samson woke up and said: “I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free!”
And then comes one of the most frightening sentences in Scripture: “But he did not know that the Lord had departed from him.” Judges 16:20. Samson rose expecting yesterday’s power. Yesterday’s strength. Yesterday’s anointing. Yesterday’s victory. But something had changed.
The saddest part was not that he had lost his hair. But that he had lost the presence and power he had taken for granted and he did not even know it. This is a warning there for every believer. Never become so familiar with God’s grace that you treat His presence casually. Never assume that yesterday’s encounter is enough for today’s battle. Never live so carelessly that you cannot tell when something spiritually has changed.
Sin Binds, Blinds, and Grinds
The Philistines seized Samson. They putting him to shame by gouging out his eyes. They bound him with bronze shackles. And they made him grind grain in prison. Judges 16:21 gives us a devastating picture of what sin eventually does. It binds. It blinds. And it grinds.
1. First, sin binds you. What begins as something you think you control eventually begins to control you. You say, “I can stop whenever I want.” Until one day you discover that stopping is not as easy as you thought.
2. Then sin blinds you. It distorts judgment. It makes dangerous things look harmless. It makes foolish decisions look reasonable. It makes you defend what you once condemned. Samson became physically blind only after he had been spiritually blind for a long time.
3. And finally, sin grinds you. Samson, the man who once terrified armies, was now moving in circles grinding grain for his enemies. That is what sin does. It reduces. It diminishes. It steals. It wastes. It takes strength and turns it into bondage. There is an old saying that captures it well: Sin will take you farther than you wanted to go, keep you longer than you wanted to stay, and cost you more than you wanted to pay.
To be continued
Welcome to the month of October
Have a good week.
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