Dedication and Distraction

Martin P—By the time we find Samson at the Philistine mill grinding grain, it is a noted fact that the Hebrew strong man has already lost his hair which was an outward sign of an inward devotion to his God. We see now not only lost hair, but lost devotion and its resultant ineffectiveness. His vow, i.e., his degree of dedication, was directly connected to his ability and the outcome of his endeavors. The sign and the reality the hair so blazingly represented, are nonexistent. The Philistine princes did not bribe Delilah to give Samson a new hairdo, they bribed her to toy with him and get him distracted from his mandate. Dedication and distraction will end up in an inevitable head-on collision with damaging results. 1Cor.7:35,ESV–“I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord.”