Wednesday November 22nd, 2023
Meditate on 1 Corinthians 10:12 CEV
« Even if you think you can stand up to temptation, be careful not to fall »
Read 1 Corinthians 10:1-13 GWT
1 I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that all our ancestors who left Egypt were under the cloud, and they all went through the sea.
2 They were all united with Moses by baptism in the cloud and in the sea.
3 All of them ate the same spiritual food,
4 and all of them drank the same spiritual drink. They drank from the spiritual rock that went with them, and that rock was Christ.
5 Yet, God was not pleased with most of them, so their dead bodies were scattered over the desert.
6 These things have become examples for us so that we won’t desire what is evil, as they did.
7 So don’t worship false gods as some of them did, as Scripture says, “The people sat down to a feast which turned into an orgy.”
8 We shouldn’t sin sexually as some of them did. Twenty-three thousand of them died on one day.
9 We shouldn’t put the Lord to the test as some of them did. They were killed by snakes.
10 Don’t complain as some of them did. The angel of death destroyed them.
11 These things happened to make them an example for others. These things were written down as a warning for us who are living in the closing days of history.
12 So, people who think they are standing firmly should be careful that they don’t fall.
13 There isn’t any temptation that you have experienced which is unusual for humans. God, who faithfully keeps his promises, will not allow you to be tempted beyond your power to resist.
But when you are tempted, He will also give you the ability to endure the temptation as your way of escape.
Samson judged Israel for twenty years.
He was an unusual child with wonderful parents (Judges 13:2-3).
He was brought up as a Nazarite (Numbers 6:1-22, Judges 13:7), and this meant he had to lead a life of consecration unto the Lord.
He was also a man of prayer (Judges 15:18 and 16:28),
but he failed so terribly because he had not learned to bring his body under subjection like Paul did (1 Corinthians 9:27).
Samson’s story is a strong warning to every Christian never to play with sin.
Imagine a judge of Israel lying in Delilah’s lap.
Samson started sinking into sin little by little.
First, he fell in love with a strange woman (Judges 14:1-2), then disobeyed his parents when they told him he couldn’t marry her (Judges 14:3).
Later on, he slept with a prostitute (Judges 16:1) before he finally landed in Delilah’s lap.
Samson did not worry because his supernatural strength (anointing) remained even while he was committing sin.
In fact, one day, he lifted the gates of the city and took them up a mountain just after sleeping with a prostitute (Judges 16:3).
He did not see a need for caution because despite his misdeeds, the anointing appeared to still be on him.
Little did he know that the devil was luring him to a place of no return.
Samson eventually landed in Delilah’s lap where he was afflicted and overpowered.
While with Delilah, there were several warning signs but he had gotten so deep into sin that he could not stop.
The devil lured Samson with seemingly harmless sins until he lost his strength, sight and purpose in life.
Ezekiel 18:20 CSB says:
« The person who sins is the one who will die…»
Learn from Samson’s life.
Those seemingly harmless sins you are committing and getting away with are simply baits from the devil to encourage you to go deeper.
The devil is not stupid; he has planned a big downfall along the line.
You must stop those sins now before it becomes too difficult to do so.
Everything was okay for Samson years into when he started to fall, but in one night, he hit rock bottom.
Learn from Samson and make amends while you have the chance.
Application – don’t be deceived; no sin is harmless. Every sin that goes unpunished is just an enticement towards damnation.
Author: Bishop Enoch. A. Adeboye.
Edited by Naomie
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