May 13 – Judges 16, Judges 17 John 7:45-53, John 8:1-11 Psalm 60:1-4

Judges 16:15-17

Then she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when you won’t confide in me? This is the third time you have made a fool of me and haven’t told me the secret of your great strength.” With such nagging she prodded him day after day until he was sick to death of it.

So he told her everything.

She nagged him day after day… until he was sick of it. I’m sure he’s not the only person to have made a foolish decision because of persistent nagging. (male or female… let’s be fair!)

But Samson was responsible for his mistake.

Why his hair? His strength came through The Spirit of The Lord, not through dreadlocks…

Yesterday we looked at the 2 parts of the Nazarite vow he’s already broken. There was only one left – that no razor would touch his hair.

And Samson knew he’d broke the others – he knew that he’d made mistakes and that this was the last part of his vows that remained unbroken.

God had been gracious to him for many years – renewing his strength, but once he broke that last part of the vow – he was done.

Samson made his relationship with Delilah more important than his relationship and vow to God. When we put others before God… we end up on a wrong path.

But in the end, God restores his strength one last time and Samson killed more on that day than in his life.

We may fail God (and often) but even in our failures He can still use us.

John 7:45-47

Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and the Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him in?”

“No one ever spoke the way this man does,” the guards replied.

“You mean he has deceived you also?” the Pharisees retorted.

The temple guards were sent out to bring Jesus in… and they came back empty handed. Why? They were amazed by what He said! The very men sent to bring him to the priests couldn’t bring themselves to arrest Him.

That’s amazing!