“After this Samson loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. The Philistine rulers came up to her and said, ‘Trick him!’”

— Judges 16:4-5

How many people have flirted with sin only to find they have fallen into a miry pit? I think of a man who was away on a business trip, and he saw a very attractive prostitute on the same side of the road. He stopped his car and picked her up—a man who had never done anything like this before in his life; a man who had a wife and two or three kids at home; a man who was a respectable businessman, but now was far from home. He picked her up.

When he woke up the next morning he was disgusted with himself and went into the bathroom to wash his face. There on the mirror written in lipstick were the words, “Welcome to the world of AIDS.”

Samson foolishly dabbled with sin by seeing the Philistine woman, Delilah. She was offered large sums of money by her people if she would discover the secret of his strength. She began to entice him and provoke him and tried to get him to reveal where his great strength lay, but he would not reveal it—at least initially.

Sounds like some young people today: “Honey, if you really loved me, you would do it.” “Buster, if you really loved me, you wouldn’t ask,” is the proper response, girls.

Finally, Delilah wore Samson down; he revealed it, and they captured him and blinded him. Giving in to sexual sin was the weakness of the world’s strongest man.

Dear God, give me strength to withstand temptation. Keep me pure and holy and let me never flirt with sin. Keep my family from falling also. Lord, let me never disgrace your church and never bring shame to Your holy name…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE CAN AVOID THE MIRY PIT OF SIN.