Broken Vows

Judges 16:20 -

²⁰ Then she cried, “Samson, the Philistines are here!”^[j] When he awoke from his sleep, he said, “I will escape as I did before and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had left him.

After much needling and nagging Delilah had finally badgered Samson into revealing the secret of his strength to her.  In essence it was not just the cutting of his hair that caused him to lose out on the special anointing that he had received in his youth; the Nazirite vow involved a special commitment that rested on the sacred relationship between him and God.  Samson was not ignorant of his calling.  He had known all along that the secret of his strength was laid upon this relationship and that his hair was merely a sign of that relationship.  When he gave up the secret to his strength he stated that the relationship between him and this ungodly woman was of more importance than the promise he had made with God.  He interrupted the flow of faith and hope that ran through the lifeblood that was a special tie between him and his creator.  The shaving of his head was a disappointing stab in the heart of God.  In his lust for that which God had separated him from, he lost the virtue which kept him tied to God.  He was so oblivious that he did not even know that the tie had been severed.  He thought he could operate ‘as usual’ but he was sorely wrong. When he stood up without God, he got knocked down and blindsided.

When we accept Jesus as our personal Savior we make a commitment to him.  He has done all of the hard work (beatings, suffering, dying, resurrecting) and our part is simply to believe.  In that belief, our “old self” is done away with and we then embody the new creation. The symbol of our commitment to Christ starts with our public declaration of our faith, our baptism and of course most importantly our ‘walk’, which shows the ‘fruit’ we bear.  How disappointing it must be to our Savior when we toss our commitment to him aside by violating his trust.  He trusts us to treat each other with love. He trusts us to watch out for the helpless and infirmed.  He trusts us to be his eyes, ears, hands and feet to work on the behalf of the kingdom. He trusts us to be good soil so that great things can grow out of us. He trusts us to show the world that faith in him reveals the way, the truth and life eternal. Rethink your commitment to Christ today. Is there a Delilah (temptation) speaking in your ear trying to lull you to sleep? Is there a barber (some ungodly activity) in your midst waiting for the right opportunity to cut you off from your blessings?  Renew your vows and reinstate your promise to God. From the Broadway musical, Godspell, consider offering this prayer-  “Day by day, day by day, Oh, dear Lord, three things I pray, to see thee more clearly, love thee more dearly, follow thee more nearly, day by day”.   Every day is a good day; it is up to us to make it a power-filled great day.  Be blessed. Dr. JoAnn

Audio version available on Youtube = http://youtu.be/--upF_fF0YY