There once lived a man who was greatly anointed by God. He was so anointed and gifted that enemy nations around feared him and his nation. Everywhere he turned he bowed the heads of his foes and haters of his people.
They asked, “How do we bring down this man?” They agreed that the only way to kill him was to turn him against his God who gave him power. So they consulted an agency to do the work.
“And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her, Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him: and we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver” (Judges 16:5).
As soon as the deal was sealed in verse 5, Delilah straight away began her job of killing Samson in verse 6. But nothing really looked serious for the great Samson until he was a shadow of himself.
While he pampered Delilah as a friend, she handled him as an agent of destruction. One after the other everything he treasured in his life began to die.
First, his seven locks of hair, a symbol of his power were taken. Second, his power was gone. His physical strength was exhausted after excruciating beating. His two eyes were removed from their socket.
While he did hard labour for his enemy, Delilah was enjoying and celebrating her booty from the deal. Yes, his hairs, a symbol of his power grew again, but he was never to be alive afterwards. It was too late.
Do you know Satan has a tag on your head to destroy you? You have been declared wanted by hell. The strategy of the enemy is to come in subtle ways. He comes and kills your prayer life. And you say, it doesn’t matter. He comes again and kills your hunger for the Word of God.
He then discourages you from going to church programs and other Kingdom activities. Then he gives you a taste of sin, and then another one. He will continue to indulge you until like Samson everything dies in your life.
Once the devil is sure he has succeeded in making you, useless, he lives you for another person somewhere. My good friend, what is it that is already dying in your life?
“In the past, when the tribe of Ephraim spoke, the other tribes of Israel were afraid; they looked up to Ephraim. But the people sinned by worshipping Baal, and for this they will die” (Hosea 13:1 GNB).
Any time we go against God’s will, He has nothing to lose. We are the ones that suffer loss. When Ephraim lived right, they stood out in glory and other tribes of Israel looked up to them. But when they sinned, when they replaced God with useless idols, they began to die spiritually.
They began to go down in shame, for whatever dies spiritually, will over time die physically. The word ‘sin’ is a word that many people do not want pastors to mention. But you will die spiritually, and eventually ruin your life physically if you hate to hear the truth of God’s Word.
D.L. Mooody said, “Any time you sin against God, something good dies in you.” When you live right, you will live up, you cannot be down. Hear what God says, “Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people” (Proverbs 14:34).
Right living, that is living according to the Word of life will promote you. There lived a great and mighty king in Israel. He became famous and wealthy among nations, and was reputed to be the wisest in his time. His name is Solomon.
1 Kings chapter 10 details the rise and glory of this man. But as you move to read the next chapter 11, Solomon and his kingdom were already crumbling. Why? Sin. He had forsaken light to embrace darkness.
God was so angry and disappointed in Solomon that He said,
“Wherefore the LORD said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant” (1 Kings 11:11).
God later gave the Kingdom, ten tribes to Jeroboam, Solomon’s servant. It pays to live right before our God. It will bring you honour in your work, business, marriage and everything. In Psalm 92:12, the Bible says, “The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
In Isaiah 3:10 it says, “Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. No organization promotes a criminal or a questionable character. No school makes a bully their prefect.
Even among armed robbers, they are looking for a sincere armed robber to keep their money. Everyone seems to love righteousness. But to live it out is where we have problem. Get back to God. Stop that ungodly lifestyle. In Exodus 3, when Moses turned, God spoke to him. If you can make a u-turn to the Lord now, the miracles and help you have been looking for will locate you. Stay blessed.