MARRY RIGHT
Memorise:
I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye. .. Psalm 32:8
Read:
Judges 16:4-21
Message
Today, many men are afraid to get married even though they are mature enough, have good jobs or businesses, and are financially stable. Usually, this is because they do not want to marry the wrong ladies as wives. Likewise, many women are hesitant to get married despite being courted by many men because they do not want to make wrong choices when it comes to choosing a life partner.
It is important for Christians to know that once they are married, there is no going back. Marrying the wrong spouse can be hell on earth. Nobody goes on a long journey without adequate preparations, and marriage is a lifelong journey. This is why, if you are not yet married, you need God's help to make the right decision regarding your partner on this lifelong journey. Some people have rushed into marriage only for them to find out that their partner is self-centred and foolish. Some have chosen spouses by their physical attributes alone and ended up with a physically okay but spiritually deficient partner for their journey. When the journey became tough, their spouses were neither spiritually sensitive nor capable of strengthening their faith. When choosing who to marry, believers must not allow physical attributes to dictate for them.
Samson was a man who was destined to be great. His glorious future was foretold before his birth, and he was truly on a path to greatness before the woman he chose as a partner, Delilah, cut short his destiny. Before then, Samson had compromised his faith in many areas, and he became insensitive to God's leading. Therefore, he chose to love Delilah based on her physical attributes. Judges 16:4 says that he saw her in the valley of Sorek and loved her; he allowed himself to be enticed by her beauty. A valley is a low place, and if a believer is in a low place spiritually, where the fellow has compromised his or her values and disobeyed God's principles, such a believer is not in a good place to make marital choices because he or she might make the wrong choice. Such a believer must first return to the Lord and ask Him to restore him or her before thinking about choosing a spouse.
Beloved, if you are not yet married, God wants to lead you to make the right choice about whom to marry. You must, however, be living in obedience to His words and principles for Him to lead you to make the right choice.
Bible In One Year:
Romans 1-3
Hymn:
Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah
Key Point:
Hearing from God is critical when it comes to choosing the right person to marry.
King James Version
Judges 16:4-21
And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. [5] And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her, Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him: and we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver.
[6] And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee. [7] And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven green withs that were never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as another man. [8] Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green withs which had not been dried, and she bound him with them. [9] Now there were men lying in wait, abiding with her in the chamber. And she said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he brake the withs, as a thread of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire. So his strength was not known. [10] And Delilah said unto Samson, Behold, thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: now tell me, I pray thee, wherewith thou mightest be bound. [11] And he said unto her, If they bind me fast with new ropes that never were occupied, then shall I be weak, and be as another man. [12] Delilah therefore took new ropes, and bound him therewith, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And there were liers in wait abiding in the chamber. And he brake them from off his arms like a thread. [13] And Delilah said unto Samson, Hitherto thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound. And he said unto her, If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web. [14] And she fastened it with the pin, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awaked out of his sleep, and went away with the pin of the beam, and with the web.
[15] And she said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart is not with me? thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth. [16] And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death; [17] That he told her all his heart, and said unto her. There hath not come a razor upon mine head; for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother's womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man. [18] And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up this once, for he hath shewed me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and brought money in their hand. [19] And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him. [20] And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the Lord was departed from him.
[21] But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house.
Christly Living