Samson – Deliverer

The angel of the Lord told the childless woman that she would conceive and give birth to a son.

“The boy is to be a Nazirite, set apart to God from birth, and he will begin the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Philistines.”  (Judges 13:5)

Prerequisites to be a deliverer, Samson was to be a Nazirite:

• He was not to cut his hair
• He was not to touch a dead body
• He was not to drink anything containing alcohol
• He was to eat only Kosher food

Q) Who gave Samson his purpose for life?

• Samson? 
• His parents?
• God?

Q) When was Samson’s purpose given to him?

• Before he was born?
• As a child?
• As an adult?

Q) For us today, whose responsibility is it for you to discover and to live out your life purpose?

• You?
• Your parents?
• God?

Instead of using his great strength, he wasted his potential. Let us review the eight ways that were a slow drain to living out his life purpose:

1. Basing desires on merely outward appearances.  (Judges 14:1-2)

2. Disregarding the counsel of my authorities  (Judges 14:3-4)

3. Being dulled to God’s warning signals  (Judges 14:5-6)

4. Taking revenge  (Judges 15:3-5)

5. Choosing to fight life’s battles alone  (Judges 15:14-15)

6. Seeing yourself as an exception to moral constraints  (Judges 16:1)

7. Failing to make a series of small right choices  (Judges 16:4-21)

8. Living in your own strength without God’s empowering  (Judges 16:20-21)

Fortunately, God is a God of second chances.  (Judges 16:22)

At the end of his life, Samson asked God to strengthen him for one last victory.                  (Judges 16:25-30)God graciously granted his request, but the bulk of his life was wasted potential….Are you wasting your life?  What do you need to do about it?