Brown's Daily Word 5-11-10

Good morning,
Praise the Lord for this new day. I have been reading about the life and times of Samson. Sometimes it seems as though we are surrounded by waste. We are tired of hearing about all of the government waste that is out there. Another type of waste that is far too frequent and really hurts to see is the waste of people’s lives. To see people who have the potential to do great things give it all away or lose it for something stupid is a terrible tragedy.
I read the story Len Bias Several years ago. Len Bias graduated from the University of Maryland, where he was a star Basketball player, and he was the first pick of the Boston Celtics. Larry Bird was excited to have Len on his team and said he would take the young star under his wings. Len Bias looked to be a sure super star, but one night shortly after he was drafted by the Celtics Len decided to do a couple lines of cocaine to celebrate... well the party didn’t last long! The drugs led to heart failure and he died that night; what a waste, what a stupid senseless waste!
Len Bias was not the first person to waste his life. We see in the Scriptures many people who could have and should have, become "something", who were given tremendous opportunity but, for whatever reason, blew it. This list includes people like Cain (born to parents who walked with God and lived in the garden), Ham (Noah’s son who became the father of the Canaanites), Nadab and Abihu (Moses’s brother Aaron’s 2 sons who offered strange fire to the Lord and were consumed by God), King Saul (an anointed King of God who killed himself by falling on his own sword), and Judas (a man who spent 3 years with Jesus, who ended up hanging himself). All of these had tremendous opportunities and all of these are vivid examples of wasted potential.
When I was in the Middle School, one of the Local Churches presented the play, "Samson and Delilah". to raise funds to build a new sanctuary. I still remember the people who were the main characters Delilah". I was deeply fascinated by the story of Samson. We read the story of Samson in the Book of Judges chapter 13 ff. In my mind Samson epitomizes a sense of great waste in the Kingdom of God. Samson was not the last person who could have done something for God, but didn’t. If Samson were permitted to look at the lives of some of God’s people today, even his reaction would be, "WHAT A WASTE!"
If Samson and Gideon had gone to the same high school as kids, (let's call it "Jordan River High") the yearbook would have told the story and would have illustrated just how different they were. Samson would have been on nearly every page, strong handsome with his long curly hair. He would have been captain of all the sports teams, president of the student body, king for the homecoming court and he would have been voted most likely to do great and tremendous things. The only place you would have found Gideon would have been on the page with the other graduates, and they would have even spelled his name wrong. You could say that Samson was you "born with a silver spoon in his mouth". Samson had a lot of things going for him, but despite being given such a great start, Samson did not take very long to go astray.
Samson was a Nazirite, he had been set apart by God and for God. Samson did whatever he wanted he lived for himself and for his own pleasures. Samson went from bad to worse as his pride and arrogance grew. We find Samson in these chapters using his strength not for God’s glory but for himself, wanting to show everyone just how great he was.
SAMSON HAD IT ALL BUT BECAUSE HE DID WHAT EVER HE WANTED TO, HE LOST EVERY BIT OF IT AND MORE. He LOST:
HIS STRENGTH
HIS EYES
HIS FREEDOM
HIS LIFE
And there stood the once great, mighty, and feared Samson with eyes missing, feet shackled, back bent over working hour after hour grinding grain like a mule. As Samson felt the whip rip across his back as heard the jeers and the mocking Samson did some serious thinking and reflecting.
There in the prison at Gaza he sorrowfully ground the grain of his enemies. Round and round he pushed the heavy wheel that ground the wheat. This was a mindless job, and he was blind so there was nothing to see. He had only a dirty cell and a lot of time to think—time to think about the good days at home as a child when they would pray at the dinner table—time to think about the foolishness of playing with sin and the consequence it had brought into his life.
In Judges 16:23 a ray of hope broke in, “But the hair on his head began to grow again…” That was symbolic of his repentance. That was indicative of his growing consecration to God. What amazing grace Samson discovered in that prison. He did not deserve a 2nd chance. He already had many chances and still blew it. But, in spite of his sin and failure, God was with him in that prison—not initially to empower him as before, but to lead him to repentance. The chastening was painful but also effectual. Samson got right with God!
As the Philistines led him into their pagan temple they did not realize the work of God that has gone on in this man’s life. They did not know a God of such grace. There ,with a broken and contrite spirit, Samson called out to the Lord for one final burst of anointing before his death. Empowered by the Spirit, he brought down the temple walls—and against all odds he completed his mission. He began the deliverance of Israel from the Philistines, which was later completed by Samuel and David.
It is amazing that Samson is listed in Hebrews 11:32 as a hero of faith. Was he a saint or a sinner? He was both, but by the grace of God he finished his course. I am certain he could have avoided a lot of pain and humiliation had he walked in obedience and never taken that trip down to Gaza in Judges 16:1. For twenty years God had blessed him. He could have enjoyed his latter days as ruler of Israel and fulfilled his destiny without that prison experience. But, oh, the riches of the mercy and goodness of God, that even there in the prison of Gaza God did not abandon him. He continued to work in his heart, and fulfilled His purposes in his life.
In His Amazing Grace,
Brown

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyFxArMeRDI