Dead and Not Knowing It

“When Delilah saw that he had told her all that was in his heart, she sent and called the lords of the Philistines, saying, ‘Come up once more, for he has told me all that is in his heart.’ Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her, and brought the money in their hands. And she made him sleep on her knees, and called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his hair. Then she began to afflict him, and his strength left him. And she said, ‘The Philistines are upon you, Samson!’ And he awoke from his sleep and said, ‘I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.’ But he did not know that the Lord had departed from him. Then the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes; and they brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze chains, and he was a grinder in the prison.” Judges 16:18-21

A small boy on a farm watched his father behead a chicken for the evening meal. With its head removed, the chicken continued to jump around for a few moments. As the chicken ran around, the boy remarked, ‘Look daddy, he’s dead and doesn’t know it.”

Samson, God’s superman, lost God’s power upon his life by continual disobedience. The Bible says he didn’t realize that God’s presence had forsaken him. What a tragedy, losing God’s presence and power. Worse yet is losing it without realizing it.

Just as disobedience, ego, and indifference dragged Samson down, so our sin bogs us down and makes us useless to God. Don’t be caught dead without knowing it, live in the light of obedience to God’s will and be His ready instrument.