Samson led Israel for twenty years in the days of the Philistines.
One day Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute. He went in to spend the night with her.
The people of Gaza were told, “Samson is here!” So they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the city gate. They made no move during the night, saying, “At dawn we’ll kill him.”
But Samson lay there only until the middle of the night. Then he got up and took hold of the doors of the city gate, together with the two posts, and tore them loose, bar and all. He lifted them to his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron.
(Judg 15:20-16:3 NIV)
I was just reading along, minding my own business in my Bible, and I read that part. Samson goes off and spends half a night with a prostitute, then escapes. It doesn’t say it was evil, it doesn’t say God was mad, nothing. Samson had a lot of issues, even though he was raised as a ‘separated’ kid–and most of his issues involved women.
First with his Philistine wife that was given to his friend, then this prostitute, then of course Delilah. And the angel gave his parents all of those instructions about wine, and they surely worried his whole life about keeping him away from wine, but it was women that were his downfall.
I think about the various boycotts that come through like fads in Christian culture. Boycott Disney, boycott Teletubbies, Power Rangers, Pokemon, Procter & Gamble, paper matches, snorkles, whatever.
I wonder if we focused on drawing NEAR to God and weren’t afraid of wine or gay Teletubbies. What would happen? Wouldn’t we surely grow stronger in HIM and be able to resist the evils of Tinky Winky and Delilah and be able to SHARE the power that He gives?!
How is this thought, because I do see a place for boycotts somewhere. Let’s boycott as an act of power and not as an act of fear. If you will boycott things, do it as an act of attack rather than a fearful retreat. Then as you draw near to the goodness of God, His goodness will come out in love toward whatever issue you are facing.