Careful Parents, Careless Pleasure

If you grew up in church, you know Samson was a big, strong dude. If you're not careful, though, you'll forget some things about Samson that reveal some things about us. He grew up among God's people, in a godly family, and he lived for himself.

I grew up in church. I know what it's like to learn the stories before you know the Lord. You know all the stories and all the Bible verses. You just don't know Jesus yet. That was me for a time in my life.

He had every advantage

Samson was born into a nation whose whole culture was built around the worship of Yahweh. Before he was born, the angel of the Lord told his mother he would be a Nazirite: no wine, nothing unclean, and no razor on his head. (I failed at that last one.) That vow was brought to him. He didn't choose it.

Don't mistake God's covenant with Israel for a promise that every Israelite went to heaven. That would be bad theology. You can have all the trappings of the covenant and still be outside of it. At this stage of his life, Samson is not a servant of God. It might be better to see him as a tool God is going to use, the way God used Pharaoh, Herod, and even Judas.

Careful parents

Are there any careful parents in the room? When the angel visited, Manoah prayed:

"O my Lord, please let the Man of God whom You sent come to us again and teach us what we shall do for the child who will be born." (Judges 13:8)

They're asking for more information, a list of rules. They want to go to school on how to be the best parents they can be.

I always tell people I had a drug problem growing up. I was drug to church Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night. Maybe you're dragging your kids to AWANA, making sure they memorize their verses, and watching those terrible Christian cartoons. When my kids were little, they were called VeggieTales. You're putting your kids' friends through a lie detector test before they can go to a birthday party.

That's Manoah and his wife. If anybody was going to turn out right, it was Samson. His name means something like "little sun." Sunshine. The Bible says the child grew, the Lord blessed him, and the Spirit of the Lord began to move upon him. Every parent's dream.

Careless pleasure

But Sammy has to make his own decisions. When the time comes, he pursues pleasure instead of God. He goes down to Timnah, sees a Philistine woman, the epitome of oppression, and says, "That's the kind of girl I want to marry." His parents object. This isn't about race. It's about people who don't submit to God. Then Samson gives the answer this whole series is about:

And Samson said to his father, "Get her for me, for she pleases me well." (Judges 14:3)

She's right in my eyes.

Remember your first 10-speed bike? Nothing said freedom like a 10-speed. Then maybe your first car, five on the floor, faster and farther. When I was 17, I drove from North Carolina to Florida for college, and nobody was waiting for me when I got there. It was the weirdest feeling. Eventually you come to a place where you have to choose: continue, or be careless with what you were given.

We make that decision every day when we pick up the remote, scroll, pause, and click. Somebody said it poetically: only two choices on the shelf, pleasing God or pleasing self. It might be a college, a date, a party, or a lunch table. We do what pleases us, and instead of being what God wants, we become a god unto ourselves.

We can create a great environment, but every individual still has to choose Christ.