It's All or Nothing

By Gobel Brockman

     There is a potential danger that we must be aware of when we talk about worshipping God, and that is the danger of taking the presence of God for granted. Both the Bible and church history are filled with examples of people believing that the favor of God was upon them, only to sadly realize just how mistaken they were. A prime example of this is found in the story of Samson. Samson was conceived after the angel of the Lord appeared to his parents, who told them that their son was to be a Nazarite (devoted to God) from the womb. In this story, we see the supernatural power of God in Samson’s life, but unfortunately, we also see in Samson’s demeanor an overall disregard for the presence of God. He consistently followed his own heart’s desires, which caused him to repeatedly have to use his God-given power to deliver himself from the messes his own poor judgment had created. These poor decisions eventually led him to Delilah. I’m sure most of you are familiar with the story: she continually badgered him for the secret to his strength so that she could turn him over to the Philistines. Samson kept getting closer and closer to telling her the truth about his strength, until one day because of her constant complaining he finally told her everything. We then read what I believe is one of the saddest passages of Scripture in the Bible:

      ^“When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, “Come up once more, for he has told me all his heart.” So the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hand.  Then she lulled him to sleep on her knees, and called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to torment him, and his strength left him. And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” So he awoke from his sleep, and said, “I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free!” But he did not know that the Lord had departed from him.” Judges 16:18-20 (Emphasis mine.)

     “He did not know that the Lord had departed from him.” That sentence should cause a shudder to go through all of us. I believe that it’s easy to fall into the trap of taking for granted that since we call ourselves “Christian,” go to church, put our tithe in the basket, and do all the “church” stuff that church people do that the presence of God is automatically with us. We must understand that nothing could be further from the truth. If we are truly going to worship God “in spirit and in truth” then we must understand that true worship doesn’t take place in the lives of half-hearted believers who choose to go their own way, live as they please, and then take for granted that God is still with them. In Luke 9:57-62 we read this passage:

     "As they went along the way, a man said to (Jesus), “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.” Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests. But the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.” He said to another man, “Follow Me. But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But you go and preach the kingdom of God.” Yet another said, “Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go bid farewell to those at my house.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back at things is fit for the kingdom of God.”

     
     There can be no compromise and no lukewarm commitment in our relationship with Jesus Christ. We cannot be like Samson and live how we want and assume that the presence of God is still with us. It was a fatal mistake for him, and it will be for us as well. I'll say it this way: people who truly worship God don’t lay their heads in Delilah’s lap.

     When it comes to commitment to Jesus Christ, it truly is all or nothing.