Topic:THE AGONY OF A
BACKSLIDER
Memorise: Remember
therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or
else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his
place, except thou repent. Revelation 2:5
Read: Judges 16:18-21, Bible in one year: 1st
Samuel 1:1-2:36, Mark 2:13-28
In
today’s Bible reading, we see the agony of a backslider manifested in the loss
of Samson’s eyes. To lose one’s physical, intellectual or spiritual vision is
very agonising. Samson, a Nezarite of God from the womb. Broke the covenant of
his calling first as an Israelite and then as a Nazarite. With reference to the
inhabitants of the land of Canaan such as the Philistines, God in Deuteronomy
7:3 had thus commanded the children of Isreal:
“Neither
shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his
son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.”
Contrary
to this instruction, Samson went to seek the hand of a Philistine woman in
marriage. When his parents tried to guide him back to the right path, he in
Judges 14:3 said:
“….. Get
her for me; for she pleaseth me well.”
“Also,
concerning Nazarites such as Samson, God in Numbers 6:6 had thus commanded:
“All the
days that he separateth himself unto the LORD he shall come at no dead body.”
But the
devil ensnared Samson with honey in the carcass of a dead lion he had killed.
In the process of collecting honey to eat, he ended up defiling himself (Judges
14:8-9).
Many
children of God are, like Samson, erring in the choice of a marriage partner.
Some have been destroyed by their appetite, because they could not resist the
devil when he asked them to turn stone to bread by sleeping with a personnel
manger to secure a job. To such people, the end justifies the means, but the
question is: can this temporary “respite” be worth the agony of backsliding?
One lesson we must quickly learn is that, the moment a Christians begins to
slide backward into his or her old way of life or into things that God frowns
at, he or she loses the power of spiritual vision. Such a fellow beings to
wallow in darkness of untold agony. After the last straw that broke the back of
Samson’s spiritual camel was engaged, the Bible in Judges 16:20 says:
“…. And
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.”
Alas, the
process of Samson’s downfall was complete and his eyes were put out. The worst
thing that happened to Samson was that he died with his enemies; hence, he
could not be considered a victor. My prayer for you is that you will not
backslide in Jesus’ Name.
Action Point: Search your life to see if there are ways you have been
backsliding unnoticed. Make amends and ask God to restore you back to your
first love for Him.
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