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Writer's pictureSt. John's Lutheran

Does Your Heart Totally Belong to God...He is Always Ready to Save You!


Judges 16:1-6 New International Version (NIV)

Samson and Delilah

16 One day Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute. He went in to spend the night with her. The people of Gaza were told, “Samson is here!” So they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the city gate. They made no move during the night, saying, “At dawn we’ll kill him.” But Samson lay there only until the middle of the night. Then he got up and took hold of the doors of the city gate, together with the two posts, and tore them loose, bar and all. He lifted them to his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron.

Some time later, he fell in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah. The rulers of the Philistines went to her and said, “See if you can lure him into showing you the secret of his great strength and how we can overpower him so we may tie him up and subdue him. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels[a] of silver.” So Delilah said to Samson, “Tell me the secret of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued.”

18 When Delilah saw that he had told her everything, she sent word to the rulers of the Philistines, “Come back once more; he has told me everything.” So the rulers of the Philistines returned with the silver in their hands. 19 After putting him to sleep on her lap, she called for someone to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him.[a] And his strength left him. 20 Then she called, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!”

He awoke from his sleep and thought, “I’ll go out as before and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had left him. Thursday, October 22 Judges 16:18 says that Samson revealed his “whole heart” to a woman who was trying to betray him. The idea is that what little bit of his heart that still belonged to God, Samson finally gave away to someone else. That someone else did not love him, but was trying to use and destroy him. This is one of the best examples of the Biblical idea of Sin. Sin is not simply doing bad things. Those are sins. But Sin is the giving away of our hearts to someone or something other than God. But it usually happens slowly, over time. Going to work is good! A job is actually how God provides for you and your family. But what happens when that job takes a little bit more time and a little bit more energy? Do you keep on giving more and more until it becomes your whole life? Maybe that happens with a hobby or politics? Maybe you begin to care more about a political candidate than you do about Jesus and the church? God promises to give you abundant life! (John 10:10). That is the Good News of the cross! The Israelites did not trust God’s promise of mercy and life. They trusted in everything but God. But God is still faithful and ready to save!


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