Samson

 August 16, 2021

The story of Samson and Delilah is legendary even for people who’ve never read the Bible. His strength is somehow in his hair, and it vanishes when after Delilah seduces him, he falls asleep and she gives him a trim. He had been flirting with temptation for months, and it caught up with him.

Judges 16:20 reads, “He didn’t know that the LORD had departed from him.” Samson had played with fire so many times he didn’t even know when he was getting burned. The LORD had left him, but he was unaware of it. He thought nothing had changed when everything had changed.

Sin silently robs us like the hacker who steals one’s identity or the financial advisor who assures you everything is fine while he’s juggling your investments to his advantage. We don’t see the consequences of our sin till it’s too late. We can’t feel the departure of the LORD till we call on him and hear only silence in reply. The power is gone. What often starts out foolishly ends in blindness and bondage. 

If the devil went around sporting a red suit, horns, forked tail, and a pitchfork, we would run as fast and far as possible, but he doesn’t do that. He walks with smooth confidence, perhaps in a three-piece suit, with that furtive glance, the offer of easy pleasure, fame, or fortune. We travel a long way down his crooked path before we realize where it leads, and by then, it’s often too late. Best that we learn the lesson Samson never did, and guard our steps and hearts at the beginning. Life is much less painful that way.