Why, why, why, Delilah?

Every day we're reading or listening to part of the Bible together and sharing thoughts with you. Today it’s Bern Leckie:

What did I like about today’s passage?

Titus 1:15 says, “To the pure, all things are pure…” Let’s just say that I remember a time (childhood) when the story of Samson and Delilah seemed more pure than it seems now.

The short story about Samson and the prostitute shows me how little Samson liked to be constrained, by anyone’s expectations, at least. As for the dangerous bedroom games with Delilah, maybe he really saw himself as invincible and thought his partner was loving exploring his boundaries. Or maybe Samson could see that love had nothing to do with Delilah’s treachery, but he couldn’t resist the urge to continue until he got properly trapped?

In any event, it turned that for all of his specialness, Samson was only one of many to find that being led by his passionate desires outside a loving relationship left him in a mess of regret.

The enduring image of his strength returning to take final revenge on the Philistines always strikes me as a shocking thing to celebrate. But, in the story as in life, I love how God’s faithfulness is ultimately the deciding factor and, like stubble, it keeps coming back, no matter how we thought we’d ended up cutting ourselves off from God.

What did it show me about Father God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit?

God established the Nazirite rituals, used by Samson’s faithful parents to mark him as special, to give people a recognisable sign of dedication. But God knows that our commitment to faithfulness and dedication doesn’t match his.

God will always love us more than we know how to love. When he is the source of our strength, we can still get ourselves into trouble when we are reckless, but what God grows in us can give us the power to overcome enemies around us, or even within ourselves.

What am I going to do differently as a result?

I believe I am very fortunate to be blessed by God, not just with certain strengths (albeit not ones which would make a big impact at the gym) but also with a beautiful wife and loving relationship. What I don’t want to do is take any of this for granted!

As yesterday, I think Samson’s biggest problem was that he lacked real love, and I want to keep growing mine, recognising that my strength to love comes from God. It’s needed in the whole of my life, not just in the bedroom, but I think that God can uniquely help us to grow in both passion and purity!

Who am I going to share this with?

Some with my whole family, some only with my wife!