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April 5th
Our Bible reading today is in Judges chapters 16, 17, and 18.
I have to admit that early on in my Christian life I was confounded with the Bible story of Samson...God’s chosen Judge of Israel...the God-ordained Champion of the Promised Land nation. Some of his life seemed exemplary but other parts were shameful. Why did God use someone whose life testimony was so inconsistent...so checkered...so sinful? As I grew in the Lord, as I grew in His Word, one thing became clearer and clearer to me.
Everyone that God used was a “sinner”, including me. Everyone that God used in the building of His Kingdom was a “redeemed work in progress”. Therefore, I quit condemning Samson and started praising God for His good work in and through the son of Manoah.
“Father, thank You for being in the business of grace...that is, You make the Samsons and the Jims worthy of Your Kingdom’s workforce. Praise You O Lord!”
Biblical record basically reveals 3 periods of time in the life and work of Samson. First of all...His birth and early years. They were marked by a visit from Jesus, the stirring of the Holy Spirit...and the blessing of the heavenly Father.
Wow...the work of the triune God-head...Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. That sounds just like my salvation and sanctification. So what happened to Samson next?...early 20s?
Samson went off the rails. He rejected the Godly counsel of his parents and sought to marry outside the faith. He killed 30 Philistines in a prideful reaction to losing a Bachelor party game of riddles. He traded his spiritual conviction on marriage for living with a number of women outside of the commitment and responsibilities of holy matrimony.
And worst of all, Samson was so entangled by his earthly desires and fleshly pursuits, that he didn't even know when God left him. When God left him alone...when God left him powerless...when God left him to be like any other man.
I must stop here for a moment. God did not choose me and you...or save me and you...to be...as “any other man or woman.” He chose us and saved us to be totally new creations...where old things passed away and all things about us became new...that is...like Him...not like any other man...but Him. “Lord help us to remember who we are in Jesus...not by our own making, but Yours!
The last period of Samson’s life was marked by humiliation and glorification.
The Philistines captured a surprised Samson. “Why this can't be happening to me...I’m Samson the Great...You have never been able to defeat me.” “That was then...this is now.”
And the Philistine’s gouged his eyes out...bound his hands and feet with bronze and chained him to a mill, grinding wheat for his enemies...the work of despised slaves was now the legacy of the Great Samson. Humiliating to say the least.
Now, who was it that humiliated him. I believe it was God. Because God was not only out to deliver the Israelites from the Philistines, He was out to spiritually revive His servant and use him mightily one more time.
And what was that “one more time”? How does hope relate to the revelation that his hair was beginning to grow?
Well that’s the rest of the story
Have a great day
