The Thing I Don't Want to Do

Have you ever made an earnest vow to do/not do something, but something/some event kept you from following through?

Since I find myself straddling (ever so precariously) the middle-of-the-year fence, I look back at the first half of 2006 and I’m intrigued by my progress concerning New Year’s resolutions. Of the many goals for my life this calendar year, it should come as no shock that one of them is to lose some weight. At the beginning of the year, I had earnestly set out to lose 50 lbs in 2006. Now, that’s an ambitious goal, to be sure, but I was certain with enough conviction, it would happen.

In my first ten days, I was like a man on a mission! I drank Slimfast shakes twice a day. I cooked and ate healthy dinners. Sweets were exorcised from the pantry. Snacks were the stuff of carrots, cauliflower, and celery sticks. So long Startbucks, hello waterjug! By the evening of day 10, I laid down in bed a new man, weight falling off like condensation from a glass of lemonade…and a will to follow through. And then it happened. For if I had laid down that night a new man, the coming dawn would bring about a total opposite effect, for the very next morning, I got that call no one looks forward to…my father had died suddenly in the night. My whole world collapsed like a house of cards at the opening of a door on a windy day. In the coming weeks and months, I would try desperately to get back on track with my vow, but time after time and circumstance after circumstance, I would fail. And so, here I still sit, peering into the next half of this year, and I wonder if I’ll be able once again to regain the fire I once had to change my life forever.

Is my story a reflection of your spiritual life? Do you set ambitious goals for yourself to attain a deeper relationship with God, only to be thwarted or discouraged from your path of progress? Or do you, like most New Year’s “resolutioners,” make vows and plans concerning your spiritual life that make a awesome flash in the pan, but leave no lasting effect from your unwillingness to carry them through?

Samson was a man whose entire life was based on a vow…a commitment to the Lord. As long as he stayed faithful to his calling and God’s leading, he would be used to lead God’s people out of captivity and into blessing. Samson was renowned for his incredible strength, and as long as his hair remained uncut by the razor, he was subduable by no man’s army. However, the moment he turned his back on protecting his confidence to the Lord, he was left to his own strength – which proved to be very little.

In your worship this week, think about the vows and commitments you’ve made to God – think about your baptism and what that symbolic vow meant when you accepted Christ. Upon reflection, take time to thank God for his infinite faithfulness and that you would find renewal to keep your commitment to the Lord, to follow him all of your days.

Resounding Themes:
Majestic Father
Committed Heart to God
God’s Faithfulness
Submission to the Lord’s Desire for Our Lives

Ready, Set, READ

Judges 13

Ready, Set, MEDITATE

- Why does the writer open up Judges 13 with the word “Again…”? How does God respond to their unfaithfulness? Have you ever found yourself in a cycle of harmful/sinful behavior that seems to repeat itself over and over again? How/Have you gotten out of that rut?

- From the opening words, what do we know about Samson’s beginnings? Why do you think this was a good platform for God to do His creative work? Do you find God working in your own life through difficult/challenging circumstances to reveal His glory? Explain?

- What are some of the unique characteristics that Samson would have to exhibit to be God’s vessel. If you have the ability to research, find out more about what the “Nazarite vow” was and the purpose it served? Why was Samson’s mother required to follow it is well? Have you ever dedicated something/someone to God? What are some of the things you vowed to/not to do to show your devotion in the matter? Were you faithful? Did God respond to your faithfulness in a way you could see and understand?

Ready, Set, PRAY

How long, Oh Lord! How long will you turn us loose to our own desires and watch us fail under the weigh of our own sinfulness! For just as the apostle Paul, that very thing we want to do, we don’t; and that very thing we don’t want to do…we find our selves constantly doing! But even when temptation is our companion, we know even then you are right along side of us – still even closer than our failures. Lord, it is our desire that we would, as Sampson’s mother, abandon our own fears and wants and do everything you ask of us – no matter how extreme. Would faithfulness overshadow our selfish ambition, commitment overcome stubbornness, and steadfastness squelch fickleness. God, we declare that Your way is the only way for our lives. And now may or prayers and words match our faith and our actions. For that sake of Christ and becoming like his image I pray. AMEN.

Ready, Set, WORSHIP!