Hebrews 11:32-33
And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions.
I never thought of Samson as much more than a Bible illustration of a wasted life. He kept the back roads of Israel a blaze with his unbridled lust, and childish folly. His parents instruction had about as much effect as water on a duck's back. His journey was downward, each step down would bring him closer to the cold grip of Satan's hands.
No warning could turn him, no danger would wake him from his sleep, until it happened; he was caught by a familiar enemy who was thirsty for vengeance. Before they were finished with him, he was bald, blind, broken, and bound at the grinding wheel, while the echoing laughs of the Philistines stung like darts a fire. Part of me says, he got what he deserved, he did this no one else, he wasted his power, and his divine purpose.
But not God, in Hebrews 11, when He is listing His heroes of faith, the best of His faithful warriors, He places Samson's name amongst Moses, Abraham, and Noah. He could have put Elijah or Isaiah, but He didn't, He choose Samson. Call it second chances, grace, or love, it doesn't matter they would all be true. You are more than you can imagine in Christ. Grace is greater than all of our sin, and the blood of Jesus can wash ALL of our sins away.
Pastor Ken Smith
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