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Samson was in love with Delilah. Even though she pretended to be in love with him, she had greed in her heart. Her people had promised to make her rich if she persuaded Samson to reveal the secret of his strength. For 20 years Samson had harassed the Philistines with his powerful physical strength. But now, Delilah nagged him until he finally gave in to her wishes and told her that his strength lay in his uncut hair—a symbol of his special dedication to God. The Philistines were overjoyed when they found out his secret. When he fell asleep, she called in a man to shave off his hair. When he woke up, his strength was gone. The Philistines came in, gouged out his eyes, bound him with chains, and made him grind grain in prison. Then they poked fun at him and praised their own god. Even though God was using Samson to punish the Philistines for harassing the nation of Israel, we can learn valuable lessons from Samson’s behavior. God chose him to lead his people. He could have used his position to draw his people back to God if he had not been so self-centered and proud. It reminds us that whatever abilities we have, they come from God. We should use them to honor him and benefit others.
