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The deadly end of flirting with temptation

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Judges 16:4-22

TO CHEW ON: "Afterward it happened that he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah." Judges 16:4

Delilah was not the first woman to lure sensuous Samson into trouble. His first wife (not named) used whining and wiles in a similar way to get Samson to say more than he should have (Judges 14).

Samson's cat-and-mouse game with Delilah illustrates his vulnerability to feminine temptation and how dangerous it is to play with sin. Three times Samson put Delilah off. Yet even as he did, he crept ever closer to telling Delilah the secret of his strength when he told her:

There are some lessons for us here in how to deal with temptation.

1. We need to be students of ourselves and aware of our own weaknesses and what situations are likely to cause us to compromise and sin. Samson's irresistible temptation was women. What is ours? Money? Earning the praise of people? Needing to be liked? Fearing to offend? Self-indulgence?

2. We need to resist temptation instead of flirting with it. How do we do that? The Bible has some good advice:

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to know myself and the things that tempt me. Help me to be prepared for temptation by keeping myself clothed in spiritual armour. Amen.

MORE: Armor of God infographic Labels: compromise, Judges, Samson, sin, temptation

