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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