Spend time in prayer and silence with God asking him to meet you and speak to you.
Bible Reading
Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, so the Lord delivered them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years. A certain man of Zorah, named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, had a wife who was childless, unable to give birth. The aYou are barren and childless, but you are going to become pregnant and give birth to a son. Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink and that you do not eat anything unclean. You will become pregnant and have a son whose head is never to be touched by a razor because the boy is to be a Nazarite, dedicated to God from the womb. He will take the lead in delivering Israel from the hands of the Philistines.” The woman gave birth to a boy and named him Samson. He grew and the Lord blessed him, and the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him while he was in Mahaneh Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.
– Judges 13:1-5, 24-25
Devotion
Once again the “Wheel of Misfortune” goes around and around. As Israel rebels against God, He delivers them into the hands of an enemy. The story of Samson is a story of a great opportunity and a disastrous failure in the case of a man who might have wrought a great deliverance but failed. Everything would seem to have been in his favor. Samson seems to stand as a symbol of the nation in his strength and possibility and also in his ruin and comparative failure. Like Samson, we often fail to walk according to the Spirit of God that resides within us. Yet, like Samson, God can still use us to carry out His perfect will in this world. God works despite our failures and uses our failures to reveal more about Himself to us.
The Big Question
Through Christ, God has delivered us from the penalty of sin and the power of sin. One day we will be delivered from the very presence of sin. Even though we have been delivered from the power of sin, the sinful nature still resides within us. What is one area of sin that you still struggle with? Ask God for forgiveness and ask Him to show you how you can present yourself as “a living sacrifice” each and every day!
Conclude in prayer and silence reflecting on what you’ve learned.