[Anglican Communion 2 June 2020] Topic: Guard Your Consecration

Posted by: Henry || Categories: Devotional

TOPIC: Guard Your Consecration

READ: Judges 14:1-11 (NKJV)

1. Now Samson went down to Timnah, and saw a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines.
2. So he went up and told his father and mother, saying, “I have seen a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines; now therefore, get her for me as a wife.”
3. Then his father and mother said to him, “[Is there] no woman among the daughters of your brethren, or among all my people, that you must go and get a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?” And Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, for she pleases me well.”
4. But his father and mother did not know that it was of the LORD — that He was seeking an occasion to move against the Philistines. For at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.
5. So Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother, and came to the vineyards of Timnah. Now [to his] surprise, a young lion [came] roaring against him.
6. And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he tore the lion apart as one would have torn apart a young goat, though [he had] nothing in his hand. But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done.
7. Then he went down and talked with the woman; and she pleased Samson well.
8. After some time, when he returned to get her, he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion. And behold, a swarm of bees and honey [were] in the carcass of the lion.
9. He took some of it in his hands and went along, eating. When he came to his father and mother, he gave [some] to them, and they also ate. But he did not tell them that he had taken the honey out of the carcass of the lion.
10. So his father went down to the woman. And Samson gave a feast there, for young men used to do so.
11. And it happened, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him.

THE MESSAGE:

Here, we see the steps taken by Samson towardshis marriage. He saw a Philistine woman in Timnath and the major reason he sought to marry her was her appearance. Samson was not just an Israelite, he was a Nazarite – a consecrated one (Judges 13:5; Numbers 6:1-4). It is a strict law of the Old Testament that an Israelite shall not marry a non-Israelite (Deuteronomy 7:1-3).

So, for an Israelite Nazarite, the standard of consecration and expected holy living is very high; and Samson being such a one, whom he was in God(an Israelite Nazarite), ought to be the primary drive in all his actions – including marriage. However, due to Samson’s determinate lust, God permitted the marriage and used it to destroy some of the Philistines (Judges 14:4).

When we consecrate ourselves to live for God, we should walk in tune with that consecration. We should consciously take steps in grace, by faith, to remain within the circle of our consecration to God. We should walk worthy of our devotion.

PRAYER: LORD, help me to guard my life and my consecration.

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