Guarding the Good

Reading of the Day: Judges 15-17

Judges 16:6: And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee.

God gave Samson incredible strength because he obeyed the Nazarite vow he made to The Lord-but, unfortunately, that strength would not last. Is that because Samson was faced with something stronger than God? Not at all! It was because Samson was faced with something stronger than himself. His will. His desires. His temptations. Of course, he was tempted many times before he actually gave in & told the secret of his strength...but little by little, every time he pulled the door of his heart more & more open to the Philistine woman named Delilah, he weakened himself. It wasn't something that happened all at once! The statement posed to Samson by Delilah in the above Scripture was stated, asked & begged multiple times until Samson finally gave in. According to his vow, his hair could not be cut, because it was a sign of cutting off his vow & covenant with God, who blessed him with that incredible strength. But eventually, he gave in completely & gave away his entire identity! This method of slowly & secretly weakening Samson & breaking him down is exactly what the enemy will do to us! If we allow our flesh to give in to certain temptations which seem small at the time, we will regret the magnitude of the consequences which will happen later! This is why we must guard the good news that God has given us through His Word! We must not sacrifice who we are in Christ for who the devil wants us to be! Again, God is stronger than anything, but it is our human flesh that is the weak link! God has so many blessings in store for those who do not continue to open the door to the enemy! Guard the good. Guard our hearts. Stay away from the bad, no matter how enticing it may seem! James 4:7: "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."