SAMSON’S SAGA: GREAT TEMPTATION

So Delilah said to Samson, “Tell me the secret of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued.” Judges 16:6

REFERENCE
Judges 16:1-17

Today, we see Samson, a man with a great purpose, great power and great passion, tethering on the edge of sin, fighting his greatest battle of all against temptation. It is said, “New levels, new devils;” the higher a man is in life, the more prone he is to falling. Hence, great men must exercise great care. “Pirates look for ‘loaded’ vessels,” same with the devil; his target victims are those loaded with great callings, gifts and missions – often in music industry, in government and politics or/and even in ministry.

Samson often ventured into the disallowed – touching a corpse, taking a Philistine wife, or cavorting with a prostitute. In today’s text, we see him on the laps of Delilah, ‘playing’ with the most sacred gift in his life – his hair, symbolic of his Nazirite vow and God’s power. Solomon warned us about women like Delilah in Proverbs 7; they are cunning, seducing and slippery. Delilah toyed with Samson and he thoughtlessly played along, he followed her like a sheep to the slaughter.  Solomon cautions, “She has cast down many wounded, and all who were slain by her were strong men.”

A burnt child dreads the fire. If you have once had a negative experience, you avoid similar scenarios, but not Samson. The lust for women had cost him in the past, and here we find him flirting with another strange woman. She was seducing him to give her the secret of his power, and Samson was dangerously giving her clues until he let the cat out of the bag.

Repeated exposure to temptation will eventually lead to sin. Unless a man flees at the ‘right time,’ it will be difficult for him to withstand the continual harassment of Satan. Samson overexposed himself; he was always in the company of the Philistines, rarely in the company of Jews. Like we will see tomorrow, this excessive and undue exposure will cost him much. Sin is like a communicable disease that anybody can contract. The best antidote against it is to stay away from undue exposure to temptation. The bible’s antidote is, FLEE! Abstain from all appearance of evil. 1 Thessalonians 5:22

Satan had it in for Samson. See Delilah’s persistence. A great man will often face a great temptation. The danger of being overexposed to temptation is that it can lead to sin. If the shield you put up against the fiery darts of temptation is made of straw instead of steel, you will surely fall. Don’t be like Samson and live carelessly. The wise thing to do is to heed God’s instruction and stay within the boundaries His word maps out for you. Righteousness doesn’t have any partnership with lawlessness, neither does light have any fellowship with darkness.

PHOTO QUOTE

ADDITIONAL STUDY
Proverbs 1:10, 7:6-27, 13:20, & 2 Corinthians 6:14-16

MEDITATION

Don’t get sidetracked; keep your feet from following evil. – Proverbs 4:27. Take a while and ponder your life. In what areas are you overexposed to temptation? What can you do to extricate yourself from such a situation? You might want to flee or share your struggles with a trusted believing friend or leader.