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Blessing Follows Conversion
Judges
16:20-31
And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out
of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and
shake myself. And he wist not that the LORD was departed from him. But
the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down
to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the
prison house. Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after
he was shaven. Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together
for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice:
for they said, our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.
And when the people saw him, they praised their god: for they said,
our god hath delivered into our hands our enemy, and the destroyer of
our country, which slew many of us. And it came to pass, when their
hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may make
us sport. And they called for Samson out of the prison house; and he
made them sport: and they set him between the pillars. And Samson said
unto the lad that held him by the hand, suffer me that I may feel the
pillars whereupon the house standeth, that I may lean upon them. Now
the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines
were there; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and
women, that beheld while Samson made sport. And Samson called unto the
LORD, and said, O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen
me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged
of the Philistines for my two eyes. And Samson took hold of the two
middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne
up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left.
And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself
with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all
the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death
were more than they which he slew in his life. Then his brethren and
all the house of his father came down, and took him, and brought him
up, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the buryingplace of
Manoah his father. And he judged Israel twenty years.
Samson represents the type of person who firstly
realizes at the end of his life how precious the blessings of God actually
are. It is sad if a person only then at the end of his life is suddenly
aware of the goodness of the LORD.
There are many people who look down upon others who pray and repent
of their sins. They consider it as being almost something shameful when
an individual opens his heart to God, and they chose to avoid such an
individual. We can be glad that God does not think like that. The Scriptures
tell us that even the angels in heaven rejoice over a sinner that sincerely
repents of his sins. In addition, the Scriptures tell us that God is
also pleased when a person turns away from his sinful ways.
* A repentant person is one who is always willing
to submit to the will of God.
* This type of person has a higher respect for God than for himself
and for anyone else.
If everything else fails to bring about the presence of God in our life,
sincere repentance will never fail. It will bring us into the flowing
stream of the blood of Jesus - wherein lies forgiveness and deliverance
from the power of the world and from evil. Jesus promises liberty to
everyone who is serious, regarding conversion.
The call to repentance and conversion is a call that is directed to
the whole of mankind on this earth. There is not one single person who
can justify himself before God. We all need the righteousness of God.
Our own righteousness is like rags before his eyes. It is a shame that
so many realize this first of all when it is too late - only then at
the time when they are already standing before the judgment throne of
God.
Even today, we still need to acknowledge that it is our genuine repentance
that opens the door to the blessings of God. The blessings of God are
not always of the material nature, but the blessings of God are also
those which bring peace with God and contentment - for God would like
to open the door of blessings to every individual possible. If a person
holds onto his pride and vanity, he will continue to remain spiritually
blind. When nothing else works, repentance can work a miracle yet again
and HE will open the spiritual eyes. Let us be the ones that belong
to the people who have laid down their own lives on the altar of God
and say: Lord, not my will but Your will be done.
Samson, who entered into a covenant with God, was an anointed one of
the LORD. The anointing of God was upon him, but he went his own way.
He no longer watched out how he was walking. Bad company brought about
his downfall. It was only when he was laying there bound in prison,
that he realized that he should have cared more about the way he was
living after all.
It is the same case for many people. Blind, weak, and without any hope,
Samson tries repentance as a means and calls upon God. God had mercy
upon him and gave him back his former strength again, and fulfilled
his last wish of giving him victory over all his enemies. Samson died
a sad heroic death, however, such a death could have been avoided. God
was not happy about his death. He would have preferred it if Samson
had remained faithful to HIM during his lifetime.
Samson was aware of his great mistake, after having been taken into
captivity and realizing that there was no way out of his situation.
Nevertheless, he stood up as a man and confessed his mistakes to God
from his heart and asked God to grant him mercy just one more time again.
(rw)
Pastor Raymond Wey