Click this link to hear an audio version of the below text narrated by SOTH member Jerry Rhinehart: http://sothrichfield.podbean.com/
Judges 13:1-5 (NIV)
The Birth of Samson
13 Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, so the Lord delivered them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years.2 A certain man of Zorah, named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites,had a wife who was childless, unable to give birth. 3 The angel of the Lord appeared to her and said, “You are barren and childless, but you are going to become pregnant and give birth to a son. 4 Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink and that you do not eat anything unclean. 5 You will become pregnant and have a son whose head is never to be touched by a razor because the boy is to be a Nazirite, dedicated to God from the womb. He will take the lead in delivering Israel from the hands of the Philistines.”
Samson might be the most famous Israelite Judge. In part because of his incredible strength, but also because of the famous 1949 Cecille B. DeMille film, “Samson and Delilah”. Samson was born to a “sterile” woman and was given by God as a savior, filled with God’s Spirit. But being born into greatness with incredible, God-given gifts does not mean Samson will be a person of faith, integrity, love, and compassion. How do you judge others? What do you consider your most valuable trait? Are the gifts and abilities like physical strength, intelligence, organizational skills, leadership abilities, etc. the most important? Or is faithfulness to God and God’s gift of grace? Is living faithfully with God your greatest “attribute”?