WhatI Learned from a Tough Guy 5-29-22

Don’t waste what you have been given!  I remember the first time I heard this in a sermon, and it stuck in my head.  The pastor was talking about our spiritual gifts, as well as the other things of value in our lives.  His point was that Christians needed to live ‘responsible,’ lives.  It was alright to have fun and goof off, but there does need to be a serious side of life, devoted to serving God and others.

Samson had a hard time with this lesson!  He was born for greatness, to be sure, and raised in the Nazirite tradition, which was what we would today call an ‘old fashioned’ or ‘traditional’ lifestyle.  His parents dedicated their precious son to God for service, and raised him well.  Unfortunately, Samson wasn’t interested in a responsible or serious life.  He instead liked to fight and drink, and chase the ladies.  This lifestyle finally caught up to him!

Towards the end of his life his girlfriend betrayed him, and told a group of her friends the reason for his great powers – his long hair, that had never been cut.  The hair wasn’t special, of course – but the devotion of his family towards God, symbolized by the hair, was.  The men caught him when he was asleep and cut off his hair; he couldn’t fight them in his weakened condition, so they gouged out his eyes and made him a slave on a farm. 

Eventually he was the entertainment at a drunken party.  He prayed to God for strength one last time, and God restored him.  He pulled down the pillars to which he was chained, and a large group of Philistines, as well as Samson himself, were killed.  He was buried later by his family.

What a story of a wasted life!  Samson would tell us, “Don’t do what I did – it’s not worth it.  Keep the faith, and serve God with all you’ve been given.  That is the secret to a life that is worth living.”

 

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