2011-01-21 - The Pull and the Price of Sin on Samson's Life

Part 3

4. Sight

   Samson was left sightless. Sin can rob us all of losing sight of that which is important. Satan knows the bible as well or better than any of us and he knows "Where there is no vision, the people perish" (Proverbs 29:18a) Samson was blinded by sin long before the soldiers blinded him.

   Way back in ROTC in college while we did field training exercises, we were taught to use our peripheral motion to detect movement. If you want to find something moving you should look away? Our peripheral vision detects the most movement but it is also the blurriest. When we are focused on God we see sin making a lot of moves vying for our attention. Focused on God we can see it all coming. But as we look away to see what the commotion is all about, God gets in the corner of our eye. Because He is still and never changing, he just blurs into the background of our spiritual sight.

   Samson did like a lot of us and slowly looked away trying to keep God barely in the corner of his eye. Some of us think we can still see God clear on Saturday night when we’ve been looking away since last Sunday morning. I'm guilty of losing sight of God and other things that matter when I focus in on the less important. There have been several times when I've been outside working on a project with my son. I turn around and discover that he is nowhere to be found. I lost sight of him and he had wandered off without me knowing. Often we lose sight of God and wander off too.
   

5. Sovereignty

   Samson also lost his Sovereignty or freedom. Samson was left shackled. Sin binds us; sin enslaves us. It is sad to see a free man give up such a precious commodity. But people commit crimes and risk their freedom trying to get a fast buck all the time. Right now we're at war with terrorists in Afghanistan, Iraq, and other parts of the world to protect our freedom. Soldiers have died and more will die. Freedom has a high price. Many have paid that price in past wars and many will pay that price for us now. But one man, Jesus Christ, God himself, came and paid that price for us all. Samson insisted on the freedom to do what he wanted to do. Now he finds he has no freedom at all. And in the end it cost him his life.
   

6. Subsistence

   Samson lost his subsistence or his life. Samson was left soulless and spiritless. He was left dead. Ultimately sin will cost us our lives. In Judges 16:23-31 we see that death was the ultimate result. God forgave him and his faith was restored but there were still consequences. He was still a slave and he died at the end of the road sin took him down. We can be forgiven but sometimes scars remain or consequences still have to be paid. The man saved in jail isn't freed automatically. A promiscuous man may start down the straight and narrow but still live with AIDS. Romans 6:23 says the wages of sin is death. The work of sin earns a paycheck of death. That is not a paycheck I want to cash. If we never trust him, that is spiritual death – eternal separation from God. If we are saved that can still be physical life. The Bible teaches that he will whip us as his children in order to correct us over in Proverbs 3:11-12. But when that doesn't work, when we don't respond to his whippings, Paul warns us that "for this cause [habitual sin] many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep." (1 Corinthians 11:30).

   Sin may dull our senses and drain our strength. Sin can cost us physically. Sin can darken our sight and shackle our spirits. Sin may even take our lives. But there is one thing Samson did not lose.

Salvation

Samson stayed spiritually secure. In the midst of his sin, chapter 15 finds God still using him. At the end of his sinful journey, Judges 16:22 informs us that "his hair began to grow again after it had been shaved". Even after he broke his commitments God was faithful. Year later Samson was still revered and his name is recorded in the Hebrews Hall of Faith (Hebrews 11:32). David's name is there - the same David who committed adultery and murder. His name is there. Abraham's name is there too. The same Abraham who trusted God to leave his homeland for the Promised Land but later left the land, went to Egypt, and gave his wife to another man. That same Abraham has his name listed there.

After we fall to sin, God is full of grace. Romans 5:20 says when sin abounds that grace abounds even more. Even after the prodigal wandered away, the father waited, watched, and welcomed him back. In Christ, our salvation is secure. Sin or even Satan cannot wrestle that away.

In closing, Judges 16:21 is a good summary. But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house. Sin will blind you. It will bind you. And it will grind you. Go back and read all of Judges 13-16 this week and you will find that God continued to use Samson despite his sins. God doesn’t give up on us. He can't because we are in him and he cannot deny himself. 2 Timothy 2:13 says, "If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself." Peter took his eyes off Jesus and lost his power to walk on water but when he cried out save me. Jesus was right there with his hand stuck out.

If you have turned to sin, confess it to Jesus. Reach out, repent and return to Him.

IHFHBOH

adam@cfdevotionals.org
http://www.cfdevotionals.org

All verses are from the King James Version unless otherwise specified.