Asleep on Delilah's Lap

After putting him to sleep on her lap, she called for someone to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him. And his strength left him.

Judges 16:19

When the Philistines realized that they could not defeat Samson by military force, they tried a different tact. Instead of attacking Samson head on, they seduced him. He had fallen in love with a Philistine woman from the Valley of Sorek named Delilah. So, the Philistine lords offered her a great sum of money to find out the secret of Samson's strength so they could overpower him. 

It turned out that Samson was strong but not wise. The man who was impervious to soldiers and to lions was only too foolish and vulnerable before this beautiful woman. In the end, Samson told his worst enemy exactly how to defeat him, then laid his head on her lap and fell asleep. All along the Philistines had been hiding in the shadows, plotting against Samson and waiting for their moment to strike. It was only once that great lion of a man had been turned into a lapdog by Delilah that they came out of the shadows and attacked him directly. 

It seems to me that the church in America is very much like Samson sleeping on Delilah's lap. We have not been subject to overt attacks and persecution like many of our brothers and sisters around the world, but our enemy has been hard at work trying to seduce us. Everyday you are bombarded with an intentional, strategic campaign to deceive and seduce you away from God and toward worldliness. It's in the TV shows and movies you watch, the music you listen to, the news sites you follow on the internet, and the social media posts and marketing campaigns you drink in everywhere we go. You are surrounded by temptation to sin and by crafty lies designed to make you doubt truth and reject God and His way. 

Yes, I fear that we have fallen asleep on Delilah's lap, and that at any moment our enemy could step out of the shadows and attack. So, I say to you what I would say to Samson. Wake up! And save yourself before it is too late! Open your eyes to the lies and temptation and seduction all around you. Get your head off of Delilah's lap, and arm yourself for the enemy is upon you and attack is imminent.