Suicidal Bugs

As I sat at the lake this morning, I was amazed at the stupidity of certain bugs. One by one these tiny little bugs would land on the surface of the water only to be immediately gulped up by a fish. Yet as many times as it happened, the bugs kept landing on the water. "Didn't you just see your buddy get gobbled up?" I found myself saying. But the suicidal bugs paid me no mind. They simply went about their task of landing on the water and being eaten. Stupid bugs!

As I sat there, however, my mind wandered to the message that was preached at church last night. A guest speaker brought a wonderful message on Samson. As we read through the story of Samson and Delilah, I found myself thinking, Samson, don't you have a lick of sense? Seriously, read the passage below.

And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. 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. And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee. 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. Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green withs which had not been dried, and she bound him with them. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death; 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. - Judges 16:4-21

Okay, let's see if we've got this straight. Delilah tells Samson from the very beginning that she wants to know the secret of his power so that she can afflict him. Nice girl! So in response to this, Samson leads her on a bit of a wild goose chase. He gives her false ideas about his strength, and each time she proves that she cannot be trusted. Finally, after she's had enough, she nags him to the point that he finally reveals the truth about his strength. What was he thinking? Didn't he know that she would betray him? Hadn't she tried everything else he had told her? Why had he even stayed with her to begin with? To quote Mr. Spock from Star Trek, it's highly illogical.

However, I must admit that I often do the same thing. I do things that I know are not good for me. I expose myself to temptations that should be avoided. I trudge along down the path of my own making knowing that there will soon be an opening in the earth to gobble me up. Why do I do these things? Don't I have any sense? Sometimes, I wonder. Other times I realize that I'm not stupid; I'm just human. Is that an excuse? No. It's simply a fact. I don't think God refers to us as "sheep" for no reason. Sometimes we really don't have a lot of sense. That's why it's so important for us to follow God. He will keep us on the right path. He will keep us from doing stupid things. He will keep us from being "gobbled up" by the predators in this life. But we must keep our eyes on Him. Otherwise, we may find ourselves on someone's menu!