Hi, children, young and old! We've got a good memory verse for you today:
"...be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might" (Ephesians 6:10).
Do you know the story about Samson? Was he a BIG, STRONG man? Many people think he was. But sometimes people get it wrong. The Bible is never wrong, so let us see what the Bible says, OK?
Samson said, "...if I be shaved, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man" {Judges 16:17).
You see, without the power of God, he was just an ordinary man. But Samson had been dedicated to the Lord, and as sign that he belonged to the Lord, his hair was never to be cut.
Samson was a very young man when he was walking to the vineyards of Timanath, and a young lion roared against him. Wow! What would you do if that happened to you? If it wasn't for the Lord, Samson would have been killed, but the Bible says:
"...the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he tore him as if he would have torn a goat, and he had nothing in his hand" (Judges 14:6).
On another occasion, he took a jawbone of a donkey and killed a thousand men, because the Spirit of the Lord had come upon him again. (Judges 15:15)
Several other times, the Spirit of God came upon him and he did something great--but, remember, it was the Spirit of God that gave him the strengh.
As Samson began to get older, some desires came into his heart that were not nice, and he began to mix with the wrong kind of girls. His enemies, the Philistines, noticed his weakness, so they hired Delilah, an evil woman, to find out the secret of his strength.
Delilah came to Samson, pretending that she greatly loved him, and begged him to tell her the secret of his strength. Several times he lied to her, and told her if somebody did certain things to him, his strength would be gone. But Delilah began to weep again and again, and tell him, "Samson, if you really loved me, you would tell me the secret." Samson finally told her that if his hair was cut, he would be just a normal man. Then she made him to sleep on her knees, and when he was asleep, she called for a man who cut off his hair.
After his hair had put cut off, she called, "Samson, the Philistines be upon thee." Samson was not worried. Every time when he needed God, God was always there. He need only to shake himself. And so he did. Again, and again, and again--but to no avail. When the sign of his dedication to God had been removed, God also was removed from his life.
The Philistines took Samson, and put out his eyes, and caused him to grind at a mill. But his hair began to grow out, and nobody thought anything about this. Also, Samson had prayed and asked God's forgiveness for being unfaithful to God.
One day, Samson was brought into the big sports arena. The Philistines said, "Let's have fun with Samson today, and mock him!" A young man led Samson out into the middle of the building. Samson asked the lad to guide him to the two big pillars that held up the roof. The young lad did. Then Samson prayed, "O Lord God, remember me I pray thee, and strengthen me once again, O God."
Then he grabbed hold of one pillar with his right hand, and the other pillar with his left hand, and saying "Let me die with the Philistines," he bowed himself with all his might. Do you think anything happened? Let's look and see!
Why did God's power come upon him, even though he had visited a bad woman, and also lied? The reason is because he asked God to forgive him. When we ask Jesus to forgive us, "he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (I John 1:9)
Children, young and old, we do not have the strength to live right without the power of God in our lives. Paul said, "Be strong IN THE LORD!" Yes, we need to repent of all of our sins, and ask Jesus to send His Holy Spirit into our lives, because Jesus promised, "Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you (Acts 1:8). Wow! Wasn't that a great story. I want to always trust in the power of God--not my own strength!
