Sin's Lure
We live in a day where the enemy is prowling about seeking to devour God's people. (I Peter 5:8) God has a plan for your life but so does the devil. He is real and relentless and is seeking to destroy your testimony, your ministry, your character and your loved ones. He hates God and desires to hurt God by getting to you.
The story of Sampson is a message for us. (Judges 15:16) He was a man God had used for twenty years previously. He was strong because God was upon him. The Holy Spirit of God had given him super-human strength. The enemy (Satan) stirred up a war within him and caused him to fall in an area that so many good, godly men and women are falling in today. Lust. We are being bombarded on every side in the area of lust. The enemy is out to defeat us as we stand for Jesus. Judges 16:5 says that Delilah was a "lure". It was not in looking at the bait but taking the bite that caused Sampson to fall. You could say that Sampson took it "hooker", line, and sinker. Sampson was a he-man with a she problem. Today we are being bombarded with erotic pleasures from every side. The television, the newspaper, magazines and even in churches some women dress as if they got their clothes on sale- half-off. We must hear the warning call and make a covenant with our eyes. We need to get our spouse or another Christian to hold us accountable and remain pure! Keep in mind that lust is not the only sin Satan will use to make you fall. He finds our weakest area such as pride, materialism, power, popularity, pornography, bitterness, envy, etc.
You don't have to go looking for sin because it will seek you out. Run from it! (II Tim. 2:22) You owe the devil no explanation and there is no need to stick around. If you are a Christian and seek to serve the Lord Jesus, sin will come looking for you to take you out of the race. It matters not how you began, whether a dramatic transformation off of drugs and alcohol or saved as a child. The enemy will hold the ladder for you and me so that many people will be devastated when he pulls the ladder out from underneath of us. Numbers 32:23 says, "sin will find you out"! You cannot play with it without getting hurt. There is rarely a week that goes by that I do not hear about a man or woman who has either fallen or has been accused of something. I want to sound the alarm. Do you see the red light on your dash? Sin will say "I love you ." (Judges 16:15)
Sin, the Bible says, is fun for a season. Sampson had problems with pride and lust. He lost his focus. He had the power of God. He had godly parents. He had a call from God and a ministry. But he had a thing for women. He was yoked with an unbeliever against his parents' approval and went to lay with a prostitute. People who get involved in sex sins do the most stupid things. They fail to think rationally and get themselves in a mess. Delilah was a tool in the hands of the enemy. She even asked Sampson how she could afflict him (Judges 16:5). He was not very smart! If a woman asked me how she could afflict me I hope I would run away like Joseph did in Genesis 39:12. Compare Sampson and Delilah with Joseph and Potiphar's wife in Genesis 39:1-16.
Also we see that Sampson did not know that the power had left (Judges 16:19). Has the power of God left you? Cry out to him! There is still time, He loves you and desires to restore you. Is there a situation or individual in your life that is trying to lure or afflict you? RUN
The last of Sampson's life is seen as he is grinding at a mill as an ox for the wicked enemy with his eyes gouged out. Sin will leave you powerless, blind, and devastated. It can cause you to loose your testimony, your vision for the Lord and live as a slave. Sin is a constant reoccurring battle and lurks at the door of our lives. It will destroy all that you know as valuable.
The bright part of the story is that Sampson is listed in Hebrews 11:32 as one of God's faithful. He prays and the Lord gives him one last victory as he pushes the two pillars down and destroys more Philistines than ever before in his ministry. But it cost him everything (16:30). Don't let sin destroy you, your family and your ministry. Call out to Him. He will provide a way of escape. (I Cor. 10:13)
