Bible Verse: “You will become pregnant and have a son whose head is never to be touched by a razor because the boy is to be a Nazirite, dedicated to God from the womb. He will take the lead in delivering Israel from the hands of the Philistines.” Judges 13:5
Scripture Reading: Judges 16
Have you heard “you are what you eat”?
Too often, we think of that with the food we take in. But what if we looked at it differently? What if it meant more about what we take in mentally?
Samson was a man who had a lot of press in his day. Everybody seemed to be talking about him: his own people as well as his enemies.
And what were they saying?
They talked about his strength.
They talked about his crazy antics.
And yes, they talked about his hair.
That’s a lot of press for one man.
And what happened? Samson began to listen to his own press and forgot what God had spoken about him.
In Judges 13:5, God’s messenger gives Samson’s mother instructions and vision for his life:
“You will become pregnant and have a son whose head is never to be touched by a razor because the boy is to be a Nazirite, dedicated to God from the womb. He will take the lead in delivering Israel from the hands of the Philistines.” (Italics added)
Over time, Samson gave into his own internal battles, his lust for women, and eventually played with his arrogance too much and paid a steep price.
As men, we tend to pay attention to our own press. Good or bad, we get hooked by what we think about ourselves and what we think others think of us. And with that, we can easily think in one of two extremes.
Either we struggle to believe it and are down on ourselves.
Or we believe it too much and slide into arrogance.
What if we listened to what God says about us, were dedicated to Him, and would “take the lead in delivering” those around us from whatever grips them?
Then, our identity would not come from what we do or what we look like but rather from what God is doing and what freedom from captivity can look like in Him.
Prayer: Jesus, I know that You have called me to more than what my own press says about me. Help me to see Your calling in my life to be who You want me to be to those around me. Amen.
Reflection: What is one line of thought you have bought into about yourself? Is it from God, or is it from man?
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