Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.” Philippians 2:3
What we believe affects the way we live. For example, a person thought that honesty was the most important thing, then it would cause them to be honest in everything they did. The problem with life is that we don’t always know what it is we believe. The way we are living is being affected but we don’t know why.
God gave Samson the gift of incredible strength, but Samson was very careless with his gift. As a Nazirite, there were three rules he could never break. The first was to never cut his hair. The second was to never have any wine or anything that came from a grapevine. The third was to never touch or eat anything that was considered ‘unclean’. There was a specific set of laws that determined what was considered to be unclean. One of those stated that touching a dead body was unclean and, therefore, eating anything that had touched a dead body was also unclean. So, he had broken one of those laws without even thinking about it.
After Samson revealed his secret to Delilah, she betrayed him and shaved his head. When he lost his hair, he lost his strength and his gift from God. In the end, Samson’s carelessness and disobedience to God cost him his life. While he repented and was forgive, he still had to face the consequences of his mistakes.
Like Samson, our carelessness can also get us into trouble. Without thinking about it, we can find ourselves in situations that we should not be in; we simply see something that looks good or that we would like to do, with no thought about the consequences. This is not how God would have us to live our lives. God requires us to be accountable. That means we have to give an account for every part of our lives and the decisions that we make. To say, ‘Oops, I was not thinking’ is not good enough.
God has made each of us unique and we each have different talents and abilities. He has created us for a specific purpose. Samson was given an amazing ability unlike any other person recorded; however, for much of his life he did not use it for God’s purpose. What about you? Are you using what God has given to you for His purpose? Or are you like Samson and just using it for yourself?
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