Judges 16:19-21, "After putting him to sleep on her lap, she called for someone to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him. And his strength left him. Then she called, ‘Samson, the Philistines are upon you!' He awoke from his sleep and thought, ‘I'll go out as before and shake myself free.' But he did not know that the Lord had left him. Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes, and took him down to Gaza. Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding grain in the prison."

Think

Did you know the Bible is R-rated? God never sugar coats the truth about even some of the Bible's biggest heroes, and He definitely gives us the real-deal dirt on Samson, the biblical bodybuilder. Samson had an eye for the ladies - especially women outside of the Jewish culture who worshiped a false god - Philistine women.

Yesterday, we learned about Samson's failed marriage. Today, we find him going "gaga" over Delilah, a temple prostitute! She'd tried to woo Samson into giving her the secret to his strength several times, and he kept going back for more. Finally, his pride and arrogant disregard for obeying God led him to reveal his secret. That night, his hair was cut at Satan's Barbershop, breaking the final Nazirite vow; and God left him. Without God, his strength was gone. The Philistines gouged his eyes out, bound him with shackles, and sent him to grind grain in prison.

Samson's story took a sharp turn because of poor choices. Those tiny, seemingly harmless decisions that, over time, bind us, blind us, and lead us farther than we want to go. But God desires so much more for His children!

When we filter our decisions through God's truth and choose to obey Him, our lives hit on all cylinders as we fulfill His exceedingly great plans. Will it always be easy? No, but if we do our best to focus on what God wants first, wise decisions will follow. Because of God's grace, we don't have to be bound to our sin like Samson. So, choose obedience to God over blindness to sin because you'll never get a good haircut when you visit Satan's Barbershop!

Act

What recurring sin do you struggle with? Write it down and then cross it out, symbolizing that you are making a commitment to no longer make that decision. Choose to be obedient to God starting today!

Pray

Dear God, Thank You for Your Grace! Help me make wise choices that are obedient to You rather than saying, "Yes" to wrong decisions. Turn my focus to the path and plans You have for my life! Amen.