I heard of a true story of something that happened in a football game between the great rivals Alabama and Auburn. It happened in the days when Bear Bryant was still living and drove his football program toward legendary accomplishments. Alabama was ahead by five points, leading Auburn with two minutes to go. The first-string quarterback was injured on a play and Bryant had to use his second-string quarterback. The pressure was unbelievable and the crowd was going wild. They were on Auburn's twenty yard line and it was first down for Alabama. Bear Bryant yelled into the helmet of the second-string quarterback, "Whatever you do, do not pass the ball. Run the ball all four plays. And then, if we have to hold them, our defense will get us through . . . listen to me boy, whatever you do, do not throw the ball." The quarterback ran in, full of zeal and determination. First down, they were stopped at the line, second down, held again. Third down, they gained a yard and the fourth down came and the crowd was hysterical. The hand-off to the running back was somehow muffled and the quarterback wound up with the ball. Running around in the backfield, he looked in the end zone and spotted his split end wide open. He passed the ball. What the quarterback failed to see was the fastest man on the field, the safety for Auburn, read his eyes and saw the pass coming. He ran in front of the receiver, intercepted the ball, and started racing down the field. The quarterback was the only one with the field advantage to catch him. He was not that fast, but he raced down the field, with the time clock expiring. He caught up to the player, tackled him, and Alabama won the game. The opposing coach, Coach Dye, said to Bear Bryant, "I've read the scouting reports, and that second-string quarterback was slow. How in the world did he catch up to the fastest man on the field?" Bear Bryant replied, "It's simple. Your player was running for a touchdown. My player was running for his life."
What's the first thing you think about when I say the name Samson?
The first time we see his name in the Scriptures is
Judges 13:24
And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him.
What interested me was the phrase "the LORD blessed him. "
The next time we see his named mention is in
Judges 14:1
And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines.
What caught my attention is the phrase "And Samson went down"
So I must ask what made the difference and what caused him to go down?
The first thing I see is what he saw… a woman. Had Samson's eyes gotten him into trouble?
Let's look at
Judges 16:1 Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her. Samson allowed his problem to become worse by not taking charge when he could have. By the time you are longing for harlots you have allowed your problem to become bad. Here is a woman Samson could not trust and before it is over she has destroyed him. Watch how she did it
Judges 16:16
And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death;
What is interesting about this is that when Samson was over taken you know the first thing that went was his eyes
Judges 16:21
But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house.
You may disagree and say his strength was the first to go and you would be right except Samson hadn't realized that yet.
Judges 16:20
And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the LORD was departed from him. Are you running for a touchdown or for your life?
No comments:
Post a Comment