Title: Responsibility for Great Possibilities
Contents
There is a saying that the heaviest responsibility in the world is to be responsible for great possibilities.
This was Samson's problem.
He was born about 1200 B.C. to a Hebrew family living 15 miles west of Jerusalem.
His birth was in response to prayer.
Samson was born as a Nazarite, set apart so that he could not shave his head, drink strong alcohol, or touch a corpse.
He was someone who showed his potential from an early age.
His faithful parents raised him with sincerity so that he could become a man to the glory of God.
They prayed to God for raising their children, and Samson grew up with God's grace.
Even before Samson was an adult, the Spirit of God moved him.
In many ways, Samson's life had great potential.
He was charismatic and had leadership skills. I also received a good home education.
God's people, who were being persecuted by the Philistines, were eagerly waiting for such a person.
But Samson's actions were against the wishes of the people.
Sadly, Samson was completely unaware of his potential.
Instead, his life became one of the most tragic events recorded in the Bible.
Where did I go wrong?
When we understand the reasons for his fall, we can see the temptations to avoid as children of God. And you will discover responsibility for the great potential in each of you.
1. Taking responsibility for great possibilities requires choosing the right companion.
Samson had no problem making friends.
He was not a sick man. His name means 'man of the sun'.
Samson must have been a man like the world-famous star Brad Pitt in this era (William Bradley "Brad" Pitt (born December 18, 1963) is an American actor. In the 1990s, including Seven He gained popularity after appearing in many Hollywood films (for his role in 12 Monkeys in 1996, he won a Golden Globe Award).
Samson had no problem making friends, but he had trouble choosing the right ones.
The Bible records that Samson's fate was due to his refusal to cut off all contact with the Philistines.
In particular, Samson had a weakness for the Philistine women.
His adult life is related to the story of three Philistine women.
He suffered because of their influence on him.
We must consider the story of Samson's marriage.
He saw a Philistine woman and told his parents that he wanted her to be his wife (Judges 14:2).
In fact, he told his parents to marry her.
In those days, it was customary for parents to choose a mate for their children.
His parents wanted a wife of the same ethnicity as his wife, but he liked a Philistine virgin and married him, but the conflict with his in-laws had occurred before the wedding feast was over.
In the end, Samson's wife and father-in-law, who had a conflict between Samson and the Philistines, were murdered.
The second woman in Samson's life was also a Philistine (Judges 16:1).
Samson now seems to have lost interest in marriage or love.
This time, he just wanted a girl and it didn't matter what girl it was.
In Judges 16:4~21, the romance between Samson and Delilah appears.
Delilah received a bribe worth about 30 million won in today's money in exchange for handing over Samson to the Philistines.
Samson did not learn to guard his heart. So I had to pay the price.
His refusal to sever ties with the Philistines leads to his tragic death.
We also have our own Philistines.
For example, the most important factor among many factors when young people seek a marriage partner is whether the person is a Christian.
Samson's life shows that the people we choose have a huge impact on who we will become in the future.
Please believe that your great potential in the future is made possible through people of faith.
2. Solve the problem of sin to take responsibility for great possibilities
If Samson had known in the prayer Jesus taught, "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil," he would have ignored it.
It was more of a temptation test than anything else that ruined Samson so much.
If you look at his life as a whole, he lived a life that was preoccupied with sinning without any hesitation.
Therefore, his death is a natural consequence.
Samson was a gambler, a playboy, and a troublemaker.
He fell into temptation and delighted in sinning.
He also enjoyed sin when he decided to get married.
He also caused trouble by setting fire to the Philistine barley fields.
He also deceived Delilah three times about the secrets of his power.
On the fourth, he rashly divulged a secret, and while he was asleep, Delilah betrayed him.
Paul's writings in the New Testament make us realize that the Christian life is a war against sin.
We want to compromise this war by declaring a ceasefire and negotiating peace with the forces of evil.
But the Bible says that there can be no truce in spiritual warfare.
This war is a battle that continues to the end, so we must never be vigilant about sin.
This is the lesson learned from Samson's life.
The truth is that if we stay close to sin for a long time, it will swallow us up.
Samson must have thought he could handle sin.
But he only finally realized that sin had dealt with him.
Samson is a visible model of the consequences of sin.
He was blind and bound to grind like a beast.
There is a saying that "sin blinds, binds, grinds."
In other words, sin has the terrible power to cast us away like beasts.
Judges 16:20 says, "He did not realize that the LORD had already left him."
He was able to regain his strength, but not his eyes and his freedom.
Sin has such disastrous results.
When sin becomes our master, we let ourselves fall victim to it.
If we live in sin, we cannot get back the time wasted, the life abandoned by the family, and the destroyed body.
3. Great possibilities must be found in God's will, not ours
The problem with Samson was that God's will didn't mean much to him.
He is a person who has always valued 'me'.
The way he lived his life can be seen from the words he said to his parents in order to acquire a Philistine beauty, "I love her, so bring her for me."
He was accustomed to getting what he wanted and was willing to use his power to get what he wanted.
Samson's ability was an untrained, terrifying force.
Samson spent his life doing the wrong thing.
As a Nazarite, Samson was tasked with using his spiritual and physical strength to rescue God's people from Philistine oppression.
This was God's will for his life.
But Samson chose his own way.
Perhaps the greatest tragedy in Samson's life was that he used his God-given strength for worthless things.
He could have used his gifts and powers for good.
But Samson used it for personal revenge, destruction, and lust.
Rather than leading the fight for the freedom of God's people or becoming a spiritual warrior for a noble purpose, he was concerned with his own personal struggles and revenge.
When we seek God's will for us, we can fight the right fight.
To reach our potential, we must first say to God, "Thy will be done!" must confess.
If you understand God's will for you and know his mission right away, you will find a goal that achieves great potential.
1. Taking responsibility for great possibilities requires choosing the right companion.
2. Solve the problem of sin to take responsibility for great possibilities
3. Great possibilities must be found in God's will, not ours
When we realize the possibilities God has given us, we accept Jesus Christ as the Lord of our lives.
You will also grow through the active role of the Holy Spirit in the Church, the gathering of the holy group.
"Thy will be done," Samson couldn't. I hope that this confession will be your confession.