Judges 16 - Deception of Sin

Have you ever had to confront some besetting sin in your life?  If you haven't, you probably aren't walking closely with the Lord. Our sin is upon us from birth. Even as we recognize our sin and turn to the Lord, sin does not abandon us. In this chapter we see Samson, a man set apart for God's purpose, given supernatural strength fall victim to the lure of sin. 

Samson was God's chosen man to confront the Philistines, yet over and over he finds the women alluring. He literally sleeps with his enemy. We too may find ourselves way too comfortable with things of the world. Perhaps it isn't sex, maybe it is career, wealth, power, family that takes the seat of your heart and usurps God's rightful place. Compromise with sin may not always be clear, but compromise almost certainly leads us down the path to blatant sin as was the case with Samson. 

Samson had married a Philistine woman in chapter 14. His vengeance against the Philistines led to the death of her and her family. While I believe he was attracted to her, I don't believe their love ran particularly deep. He was looking to gratify himself with a beautiful woman. Though his ties to the women were deep enough that he would lose his senses and give into their pleadings. 

We begin this chapter with Samson visiting the home of a prostitute. The Philistines believe they have him trapped and plan to capture him, but he cleverly escapes taking the city gate with him. Next he falls for Delilah. There is no record that he is married to this woman. He lives with her as she makes no pretense that she wants to learn the secret if his strength so that he can be overcome. At first Samson plays along with the game and feeds her false information. After Delilah escalates her desire to dominate him, he gives the information she desires. Samson so desired the company of a woman that he would betray God giving the secret to God's mark of separation. Sin will always lead us away from God; eventually God left him. What a sad condition for any person of God. 

We too should be careful to guard our heart and not take God's gifts for granted. We have a treasure within us that we should never fritter away. Samson's sin ultimately led to the end of his life. God did grant him one last stand against the Philistines. When you look at his life you think of all that could have been if only. Dear Christian, we bear the name of our Lord, let us fully live for him and carefully seek our opportunity to demonstrate our allegiance. 

We too may fall prey to sin if we treat it lightly and do not repent from it. The world is steeped in sin, but we, like Samson, are called to live apart from the world to accomplish God's purposes here. Let's be intentional about that as we go about our day today. Our Lord has already done so much to save us, how could we give him less than our best?

May God richly bless you as you seek Him and as you serve Him.