Judges 16:22-25 – Sin Leads to Slavery

²² Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven.

²³ Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.

²⁴ And when the people saw him, they praised their god: for they said, Our god hath delivered into our hands our enemy, and the destroyer of our country, which slew many of us.

²⁵ And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may make us sport. And they called for Samson out of the prison house; and he made them sport: and they set him between the pillars.

“Sin leads to slavery.” Think about that for a second. For Samson, that statement is literally true. His sin lead him to loose his eyes and become a slave to the Philistines. When we think of “slavery”, a person owning another person is typically what comes to mind. However, we can become slaves, or be owned, by sin, too. Samson kept on sinning and he paid dearly for it! Now, the man that God had set apart to save Israel from the Philistines, who had every advantage and was equipped to do so, is the forced entertainment at a celebration to a pagan god.

There is an old saying that goes, “Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay.” That was true for Samson and it is absolutely true for us! There’s no such thing as “just a little sin.” Sin is sin and it is all dangerous. Jesus said on this matter, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant (or slave) of sin.” If you keep on with your sin, you will end up serving it. No one wakes up one day and says “I want to be a drug addict” or “I want to throw away my reputation”, but people do end up doing that because they are serving their sin.

Do not become a slave to your sin. Have you ever heard the saying about two dogs in a fight? The one that wins is the one that is best fed. Feed the Godly part of your life more than the flesh and allow God to do His work.

Life Step: Think about it…

In what ways does sin lead to slavery?

What can we do to feed the Spirit more than the flesh?