Never let your guard down like Samson
March 16 Bible
Reading: Judges Chapters 13-15
Never let your guard down like Samson
The story of
Israel is repeated again and again. Israel did evil: then God delivered them
again into the hands of the Philistines. When Israel was in this distress,
Samson was born to Manoah and his wife who had been childless. The Angel of the
Lord declared that Samson would be special, and therefore had to follow some
restrictions. "Now therefore, please
be careful not to drink wine or similar
drink, and not to eat anything
unclean. For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. And no razor shall come upon his head, for
the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to
deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines" (Judges 13:4-5).
There were
three restrictions that the Angel of the Lord had imposed on Samson and his
mother (while she was carrying him in her womb):
- Should not drink wine or similar drink (that is intoxicating)
- Should not eat anything that is unclean
- Should not get a haircut with a razor
God’s
purposes were clear as He appeared to Samson’s parents two times to repeat the
rules. However, as Samson grew up it appears that he had a weakness for foreign
women and did not hesitate to marry a Philistine. This was the first instance of letting his guard
down. However, God used this relationship to trouble the Philistines through
Samson. The second instance when
Samson let his guard was when he took and
ate honey that was in the carcass of a lion that he had killed with his
bare hands (Judges 14:8-9). This was directly against God’s ruling that he
should not eat anything that is unclean. The third instance when Samson let his guard down was when he succumbed
to the crying and pleading of his Philistine wife to explain the riddle. He had
a weakness that would prove detrimental to his ultimate downfall. However, the
Spirit of God came mightily upon Samson (Judges 14:6, 19; 15:14) when it was
time to confront the enemy, and equipped him to do great exploits on behalf of
Israel.
We should be careful that we never let our guard down like Samson. We should always operate under strict boundaries that are given to us in God’s word, and should shy away even from those things that may appear to be improper and lead us away from God. Let us pay close attention to the following verses that will guide us in our daily living: "All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any" (1 Cor 6:12). "Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's” (1 Cor 6:19-20)
