"Out of the eater, something to eat; out of the strong, something sweet."
What is sweeter than the love of family and friends? What is stronger than the bond of blood?
so this will be the last post on this blog of this calendar year. click [here] for future non-sensical updates. =)
So anywho, i read over the story of my son recently, Samson (hahaha, get it? Sam's son = Samson...har har har), and what a phenomenal story. it was like...a story taken out of a comic strip. i see a lot of parallels between the character of Samson with Batman and Superman.
Besides kryptonite and low-fudge non-fat over-priced ice cream, the Achilles' heel of all these characters is, yup, you've guessed it...women.
A lil' background on Samson...he was a judge over Israel when the Philistines ruled over them (because of the nation's sins). He was a man set apart from birth to be a Nazirite, which required them to abstain from wine, wine vinegar, grapes, and raisins, refrain from cutting one's hair and/or beard, and to avoid corpses and graves, even those of a family member.
Couple of things stood out to me in the 20 years which Samson was judge...one of which is Samson's constant desire to get revenge. He wants to seek justice for the wrongs committed to him (kind of like Batman). even though i found it to be selfish, God still used this to judge the Philistines. this goes to show that despite my impurities and imperfections, God can still utilize me for His purposes.
Second thing, there were two predominant women in Samson's love life. The first was indicated "of the Lord" [Judges 14:4] while the second was not. The second eventually led to his downfall. Interestingly, i'm reminded that when we seek a relationship which is not of the Lord, it WILL lead to your demise (speaking from experience).
The downfall came about due to his lack of patience and perseverance. Because of the nagging of both these women, Samson eventually gave away the answer to his riddle and the secret to his strength. i'm reminded of the constant "nagging" and struggles that i have with temptations. no matter how fierce it gets or how annoying, or even how it will tire me to death [Judges 16:16], i must choose not to obey it nor succomb to it.
Also, the source of Samson's strength was not of his own, but rather, of the LORD. "Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon him in power..." [Judges 14:6, 14:19, 15:14] This reminded me of Superman...how he gets recharged by the sun, whereas Samson gets recharged by the Son. that's how my life should be as well, being constantly refilled before battle by His Spirit. cause by my own strength, i WILL be defeated, no question about it.
oh, and check out this video if you guys have time, it's definitely worth the 9 minutes or so of your life...
"We were meant to live for so much more." - Switchfoot
wanna know more about the ticket? leave a comment =)
