Jdg 16:15 And she said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart is not with me? thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth.

Samson deserves our sympathy. Those who despise him should examine themselves: “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone” at him (John 8:7).

Samson was physically strong but morally and spiritually weak. Isn’t it the same with some of us? You may be very strong in certain areas of your life. You may be very talented in certain areas. But are you strong in everything? Are you spiritually strong? Do you have weaknesses?

Among all the judges in the book of Judges, perhaps Samson is the only one we can personally identify with. Like Samson, we have both strength and weaknesses. And like him, we also succumb to our weaknesses. The devil will take aim at our weaknesses. Hence, let us be reminded of this verse: “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12). The moment we don’t take heed, we will fall like Samson.

Samson had been more than once brought into mischief and danger by the love of women. Women was his weakness. Yet he would not take warning, but continued to be taken in the same snare, and this third time proved fatal for him.

Passionate lovers cannot bear to have their love called in question: “How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart is not with me?” (Judges 6:15). Poor Samson, he would do anything to prove his sincerity and love. And see how Delilah conquered him: “He told her all his heart” (Judges 16:17).

Samson is not the only person taken in by those words. Many young girls and women too have been taken in by those words and ended up with unwanted pregnancies; they would do anything to prove their love.

What if God were to ask you: “How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart is not with me?”

Shame, isn’t it? So many who say they love God do not have God in their hearts. Peter said he loved Jesus but denied Him the same night (Matthew 26:69-75). Some profess to love Jesus but will not do what He has commanded (John 14:15). Some profess to love God but their hearts are far away from Him (Matthew 15:8). Some say they love God but will not spend the time to assemble with the church to worship Him (Hebrews 10:25). Some say they love Jesus but will not serve Him (Luke 6:46). Some say they love God but hate a brother; God says that’s the words of a liar (1 John 4:20). A Christian who hates his brother certainly does not have God in his heart: “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love” (I John 4:8).

There is a movie entitled, Sleeping With The Enemy. I have not watched that movie but the title says it all. Samson was sleeping with the enemy. Delilah continued many days vexing him with her importunity; why then did he not see through her? And, for many days he was in her bedroom.

There are Christians who are enticed to sleep with the enemy. Many love the caresses of the devil. Sin is pleasurable; no doubt about it. The Bible attests to it (Hebrews 11:25). Sin comes in the form of beautiful Delilah. But as Solomon describes it: “At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder” (Proverbs 23:32). Sin seduces and kills (Romans 6:23).

Look at the sorry state of Samson: "He wist not that the LORD was departed from him" (Judges 16:20). When we sinned, God will not be with us. Let us have God in our hearts when we say we love Him. Samson is a clear warning to everyone who thinks he is strong: Take heed lest you fall.

Jimmy Lau

Psa 119:97  Oh how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day.

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