Pitfalls: Overconfidence

Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall. - 1 Corinthians 10:12

The bible devotes four chapter (Judges 13-16) to the life of Samson.  He was set apart by God from birth, lived a consecrated life as a nazarite, and filled with the Holy Spirit with supernatural strength.  The philistines were the rulers, yet Samson defeated them time and time again.  He was unstoppable, yet his downfall was simple:

"I saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines; now therefore, get her for me as a wife.” Then his father and his mother said to him, “Is there no woman among the daughters of your relatives, or among all our people, that you go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?” But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, for she looks good to me.”  - Judges 14:2-3

Samson could not be subdued by ropes, or gates, or lions, or a thousand men.  But the lust in his heart for the worldy woman proved his downfall.  After the first philistine woman he desired was given to another he continued to go back:

Now Samson went to Gaza and saw a harlot there, and went in to her. - Judges 16:1

When a man is determined to sin nothing can stop him, not a calling, or religion, or tremendous strength.  He finally met his downfall when he gave his heart over to the lust:

After this it came about that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. - Judges 16:4

Samson resisted her charms for a while, but each time she asked him he got a little closer to revealing the truth, until he had given himself so completely to her that he was willing to give up everthing. The end result was that Samson lost the thing he wanted most, and he lost his eyes, and his freedom, and ultimately his life. 

 

Notice the progression:

1. He saw and desired.
2. He pursued his desire.
3. He gave his heart to it.
4. He risked his life to have it.
5. He gave up everything for it.

What a perfect description of how sin enslaves us.

LINK: http://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/take-heed/