Samson's Loneliness

And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him. And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, Judges 16:19-20.

Samson was a man of incredible strength. The ability to work miracles was part of his life. As one of the great judges, he also received mighty revelations from God. But he lived alone. He roamed at will and did as he pleased. No prophets spoke about his life. No brothers encouraged or corrected him. No disciples followed him. He lived alone using his God-given gifts. 

However, he eventually suffered because he was not part of any fellowship. He probably considered himself more spiritual than all of Israel. After all, he had supernatural power in his life. He was not interested in Israel's bickering, grumbling and lack of faith. As a matter of fact, they had tried to give him over to the enemy (Jdg 15:11-17). However, he lived a life that was too isolated and he did nothing to combat the isolation. Perhaps he opted to live as a recluse to avoid disclosing his weakness, women.

All spiritual fellowship, no matter how imperfect, is beneficial for us. Fellowship protects. Fellowship exposes. Fellowship holds us accountable. Without fellowship we grow up like unbridled wild horses, like never-pruned fruit trees. We are unable to bear fruit. In Samson's moments of temptation (many more than Samson have been tempted), he was alone. No one could warn, admonish or help him. The power of the Spirit could not help him, once sin had become a lifestyle.

It is a great tragedy to go to sleep in the lap of the world, to have our spiritual eyes blinded and to become the laughingstock of the world, while our ministry serves only ourselves. Samson could have done even greater things for the Lord had he not isolated himself and chosen to walk alone. No one lives for himself; we belong to each other, and we live for each other.

In many jobs, it's difficult to imagine life without a photocopier. So it might be hard for you to believe that this vital piece of office equipment has been around for only 65 years. In 1959, Xerox introduced its 914 copier machine, the first to make copies on plain paper. The 914 was a quick success, and soon Xerox became a virtual synonym for copies.

When it comes to God and fellowship, however, nothing but the real thing will do! The great 'I Am' is the one true God, and all the idols of the nations are just cheap copies. As Moses concluded his first sermon, this was the key lesson he wanted Israel to learn from his historical review (Dueteronomy chapters 1-4).

God is not any created thing... He is the Creator. He is transcendent. At Sinai, the nation was told that they could not fashion anything into an image for worship...  otherwise they would be deceived and drawn into the Canaanite religions. God is also personal, and He had put Himself on display, so to speak, in His actions toward Israel. He rescued them from slavery. He made a personal covenant and was personally present with them. He sovereignly chose them personally, provided for their needs, and gave them holy laws.

His uniqueness is the most important truth the people were to remember and obey. This truth is spelled out in the verses just before the Ten Commandments (Exo 20:36). The metaphor of a 'furnace' conveys that the period of slavery in Egypt was a time of purification, or preparation, against the corruption of idolatry, to be the Lord's special inheritance (v20; also Deut. 8:25). If they fail to do this (after all, that was the historical pattern) they'll be punished, but when they wholeheartedly repent and return to God, He will show mercy. 

The God of Israel is unrivalled... not merely one nation's God as opposed to other nations' gods. He's almighty, not fraudulent like idols (Psa 115:48). He's loving and personal and is Himself the context for history and covenant. He is both a jealous, consuming fire and a merciful, promise-keeping God. He alone is worthy of worship!

Who is like unto our Lord? He and He alone is God!


Sanctified for a Purpose

I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. John 17:15-17.

Christians often misunderstand sanctification, believing it primarily means self-denial in order to achieve Godliness. Of course, every saint needs to reject certain things and close the door to worldliness. We must seek God's wisdom and live accordingly. But sanctification often becomes a goal in itself and an unhealthy self-reflection hinders us from ever using our spiritual purity to serve God, free from sin. 

This is the downside of being religious by nature. We easily attribute a greater value to being more religious and more holy than others, instead of doing the Lord's work. This is how cults are born. Their values are focussed on their uniqueness, rather than what God wants them to do.

Unawares, we develop a mindset similar to the Pharisees. We believe God should answer all our prayers and pay special attention to us, because we are more holy, more submitted or more radical than others. But the purpose of sanctification is to serve God. And to serve God means to serve people, as the Good Samaritan did. 

When we see a need, we should meet it instead of being too holy to care. Some people spend a lot of time with God, but are unwilling to reach out to meet the needs of other people. Others focus on their 'ministry' and do not allow the Holy Spirit to refine them and expand their abilities.

Yes, we need to care for ourselves as well... knowing our weaknesses is important and trusting  the Lord can help us is what keeps us spiritually clean. Without holiness we cannot see God and we lack strength to do our work. A misunderstanding of sanctification causes us to become introverted and to focus on what is important to us, rather than doing what is important to the Lord. 

We are here to serve others as God's representative on the earth... to use our freedom (sanctification) for the benefit of others. We are not here to improve on our sanctification, we are here to use it. 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.'  Luke 4:18-19.