Judges 16:20-21 And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the LORD was departed from him. But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house.
The story of Samson is the perfect example of why, as the children of God, we should live our lives AWAKE, ATTENTIVE, and very CLOSE to God.
Samson came into the world with a purpose: to judge and liberate the people of Israel from the oppression of the Philistines.
However, Samson did not understand his purpose, and because of this, Samson ended up paying with his own life for his bad decisions that were the result of his failure to sincerely consecrate his life to God.
It is true that God, at the end of the story, attended to the last cry of Samson who, repentant, asked God for a last request of strength to kill the Philistines. Although he died there too, Samson is considered among the heroes of faith in Hebrews 11. This is not because of what happened to him, or because of the victories he had before he died, but because at the end of his life, he trusted God.
Many of us have put the blame on Delilah and her cleverness to defeat Samson, when in truth it was not she who defeated Samson, but Samson himself. Delilah simply took the opportunity given by this man to make him fall.
All this could have been avoided if Samson had kept his most valuable gift—his consecrated life.
Samson allowed himself to fall when he despised the life of dedication he was given by God.
But what was it that led Samson to lose his life, his power, his purpose and above all his communion with God, and end up mocked, blind, and dead?
Answer: His failure to realize the importance of a life consecrated to God.
What does consecration mean? Consecration is the dedication of a person to the service of God. Someone who is consecrated has decided to dedicate his life to pleasing God.
The consecration Samson had from God, gave him the power of God to live a victorious life, in a world full of idolatry and perversion.
In other words, while Samson kept his consecration before God, God kept him in the midst of the Philistines, in a pagan nation, full of evil and perversion. Samson was healthy, protected, full of power, full of wisdom, full of protection, and above all, full of the presence of God.
Again, Samson’s defeat was not entirely Delilah's fault. It was Samson’s fault as well for taking his guard away from something as important as a consecrated life.
When Samson was constantly consecrating his life, it preserved and maintained his personal life connected to God in holiness. The power of God did not lack, but when Samson neglected his consecration, he opened his life to temptation which led to destruction in his life.
Proverbs 16:7 When a man's ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.
When we do not take care of our life of consecration before God, we open ourselves up to be tempted by so much perversity and evil that may end up ruining us.
James 1:12-15 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
Throughout the Word of God, Satan has never defeated anyone who has kept up their guard of consecration.
Let’s keep our consecrated life for God important.
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