Verse of the day: Judges 15:15-16, He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, reached out his hand and took it, and killed a thousand men with it. 16 Then Samson said: “With the jawbone of a donkey, heaps upon heaps, with the jawbone of a donkey I have slain a thousand men!”
As we serve God, there may come times when we need heavenly reminders. What kind of reminders you ask? The kind of reminders that bring us back to the reality that the praise and glory for what we do in serving God belongs to Him. The kind of reminders that humble us and break down our prideful attitudes that keep us thinking more of ourselves than we should. Romans 12:3 tell us, “For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.” Samson did something that we only see in the movies today. One man taking on and defeating a thousand men. Not only does he take on a thousand men, he defeats them using the jawbone of a donkey. Now, before we are impressed by Samson’s feat of strength and prowess, let us stop and examine where this all came from. Verse 14 of this chapter says, “When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting against him. Then the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him; and the ropes that were on his arms became like flax that is burned with fire, and his bonds broke loose from his hands.” We will see later that God had endowed Samson with natural strength that enabled him to perform certain feats of strength in his own power, but it was only when the Spirit came mightily upon Samson that he was able to perform supernatural feats such as this one. From the beginning of his service to the Lord, we see that Samson has a tendency to walk a fine line, and even cross that line in being disobedient to his call as a Nazarite. It is during those moments that we God’s amazing grace working in Samson’s life, even when God allows heavy consequences, such as his wife and father-in-law being burned to death by their own people, and worse consequences later in his life. Nonetheless, here we see Samson gain a great victory against the enemies of Israel, yet, he fails to acknowledge or give glory and praise to the One who gave him that victory. This is where the heavenly reminders come into play. Almost immediately, after singing praises to himself, Samson finds that he is in desperate need of relief. A man who has just defeated a thousand men, and sings his own accolades cannot do something as simple as find a little water to settle his thirst. We may read this and think that this is a small thing, but stop and think about this for a moment. Samson just fought against a thousand men. I would imagine that this would work up quite a thirst, to the point of dehydration. In case you do not know this, dehydration can easily lead physical weakness and even death. Verses 18-19 tells us, “Then he became very thirsty; so he cried out to the LORD and said, ‘You have given this great deliverance by the hand of Your servant; and now shall I die of thirst and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?’ 19 So God split the hollow place that is in Lehi, and water came out, and he drank; and his spirit returned, and he revived. Therefore he called its name En Hakkore, which is in Lehi to this day.” Note how quickly Samson changed the tune of his praise and redirected the glory to where and to whom it belonged. Sometimes, when we have those moments of victory and begin to brag about our talents and abilities, and seek the praises of others, God needs to allow us to be in situations that are above our ability to resolve, in order to bring us down a notch or two. Sometimes it is necessary for God to allow a trial (big or small) to bring us back to the reality that we can do nothing of any heavenly worth without Him (John 15:4-6). The bottom line is that sometimes, when we forget to give glory to the One who is the Author of our victories, it is good to receive those much needed heavenly reminders so that we point the praise to where it belongs, squarely at Jesus.
Today, God extends an invitation to you to accept His gift of salvation (Rom 6:23). Will you accept it? Anyone who calls on Jesus, by faith, in repentance, confessing your sins, will receive eternal life. Do not put off calling on Him, and receive Him and His gift of salvation today (Rom 10:13).
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