In Judges 16 we read of Samson, the judge set apart for service to God. Whenever he was called on, the Spirit of God came upon Samson and he defeated the enemy. But Samson took this for granted. He thought that he could live as he pleased and still be used by God when the need arose.

Believers today do the same thing and mistake God’s grace and mercy for license to do as we please. We live a worldly life six days a week and then expect God to use us and bless us on Sundays.

The crunch came for Samson when Delilah had nagged him for the secret of his strength. Samson rose up and said to himself: “I will go out as at other times..” But he didn’t go out! Enough was enough and God left him to himself. Samson had forgotten that the gift of the Spirit was by God’s grace and for God’s glory.

We need to be aware that God is primarily concerned with his name and his glory, and that the gift of the Spirit to those who serve him is for service not for our pleasure. We cannot live one way during the week and then expect God to rise to the occasion when we put on our Sunday suits.

The gift of leadership given to the judges was a postion of service, both to God and to the people. Let us thank God for it, and seek to walk worthy of the calling to which we have been called, that God might be pleased to use us to serve him.

This entry was posted on Friday, March 28th, 2003 at 12:00 am and is filed under Devotional. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.