Morning

May 6

Judges 16:20 ²⁰Then she called, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you!" He awoke from his sleep and thought, "I'll go out as before and shake myself free." But he did not know that the LORD had left him.

Samson had walked the fence of serving the LORD and serving his lusts until it finally caught up with him. The flesh wars against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh. Eventually one must win. Samson could not see that flirting with evil would cost him so much. He'd been shown mercy by God again and again and thought that it would never end. This time he crossed the last line. "My Spirit will not always strive with man," the Lord once said. Delilah conned him into telling the source of his strength. Did he really think he would get away with it again, or was he hoping he would be normal so that he could know if she genuinely loved him? Whatever was going on in his mind, he thought he was still anointed when he woke.

What a warning this is to us! We go on flirting with disaster, compromising with evil and then we jump up thinking the anointing is still upon us. We go out to battle and find we have no strength. His eyes were put out. It was symbol of his spiritual blindness. He labored for years for the enemy, another symbol of the spiritual oppression we suffer when sin masters us.

Finally, when put on display at a feast to the enemy's god, he gave himself in one last act of service to God. What a price he paid to see in the Spirit. What a price he had to pay to be free from bondage to the enemy. Still his death took a greater toll upon the enemy than his life. God gives second chances.

Consider: Flirting with evil will eventually extract a painful price. Quit now!