Chapter 3 – One little weakness
We read in Act 26:18, “You are to open their eyes and turn them from the darkness to the light and from the power of Satan to God, so that through their faith in me they will have their sins forgiven and receive their place among God's chosen people.” (GNB)
As Saul was on his way to Damascus, with the cruel intent to persecute those who believed in Jesus, he had this dramatic encounter with the Lord Jesus where he was converted and transformed from Saul to Paul. At this point, when Saul asked Jesus what he was expected to do, the above words from Acts 26:18, was God’s specific command to Paul.
There are four aspects of this verse that we will consider, that will give us an explanation of what happens to a person when they are in any sort of bondage.
They are blinded by sin
A person in bondage the Bible says is blinded to his condition and so he keeps doing the same thing over and over again. If a man falls into a pit once, it will be considered a mistake, but if he were to fall into the same pit repeatedly, it would make one surmise that he is unsighted. Many of us are not even aware that we are living in enslavement to many things. Our prayer to the Lord is that He would intervene, break loose and set us free from every form of bondage.
They are under the power of Satan
We saw in the previous chapters that addictions and bondages are varied. When we continue to fall into the same sin over and over again we are allowing Satan to enslave us and keep us in bondage. If we seek to be delivered, we need to desire to be rid of the enslavement and make it our highest goal to be like Jesus. It is always good for us to ask in every situation we are placed, ‘What would Jesus do?’ and aspire to do the same. This transformation doesn’t happen overnight, but every day as we pray, read and meditate on the word and obey the Lord on an ongoing basis this change becomes a reality.
Their sins are not forgiven
Also many people who are in bondage are constantly reminded of their past failures and secret sins that they feel deserve punishment. They have a sense of helplessness, and come to the conclusion that they can never be released from their condition. What happens as a result is that, they filled with a deep sense of guilt and shame, and carry a heavy burden of remorse and degradation.
They are not in fellowship with God’s people
It is also very evident that when a person is living in sin or is in bondage, they will never want to be in fellowship with other believers. They may even be members of the church but they will choose to be distant and will not be in close communion with the people of God.
The very purpose of God choosing Saul and radically changing him to Paul was that he would be instrumental in turning people from darkness to light. By placing our faith in Jesus, the Lord assures us that our sins are forgiven, that we are set free from all our guilt and shame, to live a holy life here on earth, and we are also promised the assurance of heaven. We are in the true sense transported from darkness to light, from the dominion of Satan to the Kingdom of God, can come into true fellowship with other believers and become vibrant members of the body of Christ.
A Strong Man with One Weakness
The people of Israel were being tormented by the Philistines. They often came into the Israelite territory and plundered their fields. The people of Israel cry out in anguish and the Lord raises a mighty man named Samson.
God is a God of restoration and He is also our faithful God. Frequently when we are in distress, at a point of loss and call out to Him, the Lord comes to redeem us and restore back to us all that we have lost.
As we study the life of Samson we will understand how he was enslaved by sin. We will also be able to analyse our own lives and see how we can overcome similar temptations and bondages in our own lives. Samson was a man called and chosen by the Lord to deliver Israel and whenever the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, he was so filled with strength that no one could stand before him. But sadly Samson the strong man also had a weakness. In the book of Judges we read like this.
Judges 14:1, 2“One day when Samson was in Timnah, one of the Philistine women caught his eye. When he returned home, he told his father and mother, "A young Philistine woman in Timnah caught my eye. I want to marry her. Get her for me." (NLT)
Samson goes to a city and sees a philistine woman, and immediately wants to marry her. He knew nothing about her but wanted to marry her and the only reason he wanted her was just that she caught his eye and he desired to have her. He stubbornly pursued this relationship, and in the end Samson’s marriage to the Philistine woman ended in total failure.
Ecclesiastes 10:1, talks about how one dead fly can cause a bottle of perfume to stink, no matter how much effort the person took to prepare it. So also a small sin can cause big trouble in our lives as it did in the life of Samson.
Many young people today are also choosing their life partners this way. They see someone and fall in love, often what is termed ‘love at first sight’ and generally without knowing anything about the person are ready to take the plunge. The choice is frequently made entirely on the basis of the outward appearance. Young people need to be prudent in this matter. The kind of person you choose as a life partner will decide the quality of your family life. Our partners in marriage should be God’s choice and compatible to us. We must therefore be careful to make the right choice.
It is important for parents to pray for the spouses our children will marry in future. We can start praying for our children when they are very young, that they will make the right choice, so the appropriate people are joined into our families. Marriage was God’s idea and families are his plan so it is always best to consult with the Lord before we make that decision. Once we are married there is no option to opt out. If you realise the person you married is not the right person, you need to pray and by your life and good deeds lead them to the Lord.
Marriages are not fairy tales that have happy endings all the time. For a marriage to work well both the husband and wife must work hard and do their part to make the marriage a happy one. Many people think that if the marriage doesn’t work we can opt out, divorce and find another partner. But on the basis of God and His word, divorce and remarriage are no options for a believer. A husband and wife need to fulfil certain marital duties to each other. We have to do our best to make our marriage work. Husbands are instructed to love their wife and the wife is taught to submit to her husband. Many children are following in their parent’s footsteps and choosing to quit their marriages even for simple reasons. Instead we need to pray, work hard and do our best to make our marriage work.
Judges 16:1, “Now Samson went to Gaza, and there he saw a loose woman
and went in to her”. (BBE)
The next thing Samson did was go to Gaza and there he set eyes on a loose woman.
Our eyes if we notice are responsible for a lot of enslavements. The Bible says if our eye is holy our whole body will be holy. (Matthew 6:22)
Later we see is in Judges 16:4,“Now after this, he was in love with a woman in the valley of Sorek, named Delilah.” (BBE)
Samson was so enslaved to this love for women, that he was making the same mistake over and over again. The very women whom Samson was so in love with were also the cause for his ruin.
Judges 14:17, “she nagged him” (GNB) – this was the wife who once pleased his eyes.
Judges 16:16, “Delilah started nagging and pestering him day after day, until he couldn't stand it any longer. (CEV)- This was the woman he loved so much.
Both the women Samson so longed to have, nagged him to the point of utter desperation.
Let’s see what happened to Samson as a result of his friendship with Delilah. Judges 16:21, “The Philistines grabbed Samson and poked out his eyes. They took him to the prison in Gaza and chained him up. Then they put him to work, turning a millstone to grind grain.” (CEV)
What happened was tragic. The philistines captured Samson, took him to Gaza the very place where he saw the loose woman, and the first thing they did was to gouge out his eyes. They chain him up, imprison him and force him to grind grain. The uncontrolled eyes of Samson were now removed. Now as he groped in his blindness, he must have been constantly reminded of the sins he committed with those very eyes. Here was a strong man who was called and anointed by the Spirit of God, called to be a deliverer of Israel, now in bondage literally and totally separated from all his family and his own people.
Today many young children who are in their early teens are also falling into this trap. As parents we need to guide our children in the right way. We need to pray for our children that they will be protected. We should not be careless about the matters pertaining to our children. There is also much obscene content in every form of media. As Parents we have a responsibility to guide and help our children to view the right things. We must set an example for our children. It is better to nip a habit or an addiction in the bud than to let it grow and become a problem to us or else we will be ensnared by the very thing.
Notice how sin will always thrive in darkness. Just think about it – things that grow in the dark are not good things – they are harmful thing - for example fungus, mould etc. That is why God created light at the very beginning. All the secret things that we hide in the darkness of our hearts will surely bring us much trouble. Whatever those secrets are, we need to bring them out openly to the Lord, confess and forsake them. Only when Jesus the true light comes into our life, will all the darkness of sin will flee.
The Samaritan Woman – from darkness to light
In the last chapter we saw how Jesus met a woman from Samaria near Jacob’s well. Jesus was sitting there exhausted when the woman came to draw water from the well. She came all alone, probably not wanting to meet with anyone when she encounters Jesus. Jesus asked her to do something that really stunned her.
In John 4:16-17, Jesus told her, "Go and bring your husband." The woman answered, "I don't have a husband." (CEV)
John 4:18, “You have had five husbands, and the man you have now is not your husband: that was truly said.” (BBE)
When Jesus asked this woman to go and bring her husband, he very well knew all about her past. He knew that she had five husbands earlier and that the man she was living with was not her husband. What she was keeping back in her life as a secret, the Lord brought into the open.
As long as we hide our sins, and cover them up, sin will continue to grow. If we want to come out of our bondage, we need to first accept our situation, confess our sin and repent of it. We need to truly desire to let go of it and need to bring what is in the darkness into the light of the Lord.
When Jesus brought out all her secrets into the open all her inhibitions were gone and what the woman did something amazing.
In John 4:28-29, “The woman left her water jar, and ran back into town. She said to the people, me and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! Could he be the Messiah?" (GNB)
She left her water jar and forgot the purpose for which she had come to the well in the first place and ran into the village to bring everyone to meet Jesus. As long as a person is living in sin and in darkness, he or she will live in isolation from society. That is why the woman came all alone, but once her sins were brought into the open she lost all shame, fear and self-consciousness and had no qualms about bringing all of her acquaintances to see Jesus. Only when every bondage in our life is broken, can we be useful instruments in the hands of the Lord. She testifies to the whole village “come and see, the person who told me everything about me. Could this be the Christ?”
We may hide many things from others. As little children we may recall how we would do wrong and then get caught because we didn’t know how to cover up. However, as we grow older we learn to cover up very well, so we don’t get caught. We should sincerely ask the Lord to deliver us from every form of bondage so we are set free. Only as we search our hearts and check to see what is the thing that we are enslaved to and bring it into the light of Christ, we will be able to lead a victorious life.
Here’s the word of God to us from Proverbs 28:13, “You will never succeed in life if you try to hide your sins. Confess them and give them up; then God will show mercy to you.” (GNB)
Pastor F. Andrew Dixon
www.goodnewsfriends.net
Transcribed by : Ms. Esther Collins
