Articles

Lessons from the Life of Sampson

By: Lorenzo Lowery

When you look at the life of Samson, you get the sense that he was a man's man. I mean, he was the leader of a nation, strong, well-built, handsome, irresistible to women, knew how to party, and if someone crossed him, he always got his revenge. The guy sounded like the mold that all of the action heroes from the movies were cut from - the type of guy that every man wishes he could be.

But should we wish to be like Samson? He couldn't maintain relationships, he was impulsive, lacked discipline and self-control, and in the end, his bravado got him blinded and embarrassed as he died alone, separated from his people. Unfortunately, men today with similar lifestyles end up with the same fate. In their youth they drink, smoke, club, sleep around and are always ready to fight if they feel disrespected. But when you see these guys in midlife, their bodies are broken (like Samson), they realize their promiscuity has left them lonely (like Samson), they are dissatisfied with their life accomplishments (like Samson), and wish they had just one more shot to make it right (like Samson). Sure, Samson eventually fulfilled his God-given purpose, but did it have to cost him his life? How much more could he have accomplished if he had done things God's way?

More than being powerful and desirable to women, I think men really desire to be men of purpose. Samson was a man of purpose, meaning he had a mission assigned to Him by God. But Samson squandered so much of his life that he had to accomplish his purpose with his death. Like Samson, God has a purpose for each one of us that he desires us to fulfill before we die (not necessarily with our deaths). I think more than anything, men desire to be men of purpose - to have a cause bigger than they are, that they are willing to die for and that will continue far past their death. That's what God has really designed us to be - men of vision, men of passion, agents of change and fighters for justice. Anything else is an empty life, as Solomon noted in the book of Ecclesiastes 2:10-11:

10 I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor. 11 Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.

Meaningless - that's what Samson realized his life was without God. That's what many men today realize about their own lives. Samson and Solomon eventually learned, a life spent fulfilling lustful desires feels good for a season, but ultimately leaves a man empty. In closing, I encourage you with the words of Paul in his letter to young Timothy:

But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. (1 Tim. 6:11).