February 14, 2021 CAC Living Water Devotional : Topic – DON’T PLAY WITH SIN
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LIVING WATER CAC DAILY DEVOTIONAL GUIDE
Sunday, February 14, 2021 – Valentine’s Day
DON’T PLAY WITH SIN
Read: Judges 16:1-21
Judges 16:1-21 Samson went to Gaza, and there he saw a prostitute, and he went in to her.
The Gazites were told, “Samson has come here.” And they surrounded the place and set an ambush for him all night at the gate of the city. They kept quiet all night, saying, “Let us wait till the light of the morning; then we will kill him.”
But Samson lay till midnight, and at midnight he arose and took hold of the doors of the gate of the city and the two posts, and pulled them up, bar and all, and put them on his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that is in front of Hebron.
After this he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.
And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, “Seduce him, and see where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to humble him. And we will each give you 1,100 pieces of silver.”
So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me where your great strength lies, and how you might be bound, that one could subdue you.”
Samson said to her, “If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, then I shall become weak and be like any other man.”
Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried, and she bound him with them.
Now she had men lying in ambush in an inner chamber. And she said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he snapped the bowstrings, as a thread of flax snaps when it touches the fire. So the secret of his strength was not known.
Then Delilah said to Samson, “Behold, you have mocked me and told me lies. Please tell me how you might be bound.”
And he said to her, “If they bind me with new ropes that have not been used, then I shall become weak and be like any other man.”
So Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And the men lying in ambush were in an inner chamber. But he snapped the ropes off his arms like a thread.
Then Delilah said to Samson, “Until now you have mocked me and told me lies. Tell me how you might be bound.” And he said to her, “If you weave the seven locks of my head with the web and fasten it tight with the pin, then I shall become weak and be like any other man.”
So while he slept, Delilah took the seven locks of his head and wove them into the web. And she made them tight with the pin and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he awoke from his sleep and pulled away the pin, the loom, and the web.
And she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and you have not told me where your great strength lies.”
And when she pressed him hard with her words day after day, and urged him, his soul was vexed to death.
And he told her all his heart, and said to her, “A razor has never come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If my head is shaved, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak and be like any other man.”
When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called the lords of the Philistines, saying, “Come up again, for he has told me all his heart.” Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hands.
She made him sleep on her knees. And she called a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to torment him, and his strength left him.
And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had left him.
And the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes and brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles. And he ground at the mill in the prison
MEMORISE:
Abstain from every form of evil. (1 Thessalonians 5:22)
EXPOSITION
Generally, children love to play, and whatever they play with becomes part of them. If they play with toys, they stay glued to them. If they play on the ground, they are stained by sand. So also, life of righteousness is determined by what we surround ourselves with, spiritually and physically.
Samson, though a prophetic child of destiny, with God on his side from birth, decided to hang out with sin. Had he stayed in his position as a destined child, sin would not have been able to overcome him. He toyed with sin; four times he had privilege to flee from the appearance of evil, but Samson ignored them. The end of the tale is that Samson became a prisoner of the enemies he was meant to defeat.
If one plays around sin, no amount of the Scripture that one knows, and the hours of fasting and praying one engages in, nothing would stop the consequences. Paul admonishes his audience, Abstain from all appearance of evil (KJV). There is no superman in the world of sin. Sin doesn’t recognise your anointing or religious titles. It has no respect for your spiritual gifts and abilities. It is a defiler and killer. The children of Eli, who were to succeed their father as judge and priests, gambled with their destinies on the playground of sin. They thought they had known God, and this resulted in familiarity contempt. They paid dearly for it (1 Sam.2:12ff).
So many believers today, both ministers and followers, are gambling their destines in the playground of sexual immorality, idolatry, lying, drunkenness, anger, uncleanness, etc. (Gal.5:19-20), and sometimes try to justify such with Scriptures. Beloved, watch yourself: are you playing with sin? Don’t forget that no unclean thing will inherit God’s kingdom. Repent Now! If heaven is your goal, then get out of the playground of sin. On this auspicious Valentine’s Day 2021, don’t play with sin! He who scrub his nose with the cobra’s head, most likely, wouldn’t live to warn others of the consequences.
PRAYER POINTS
1. O Lord, have mercy on me and deliver me from the entanglement of sin.
2. O Lord, the grace of abstaining from all appearance of evil/sin, hive to me.
3. Lord Jesus, help all of us to redirect our minds to the real reason why You allowed Valentine’s Day to be part of the world system.
EXTRA READING FOR TODAY: Leviticus 4:21-6:30; Matthew 26:59-27:5