“And she made him sleep upon her knees…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.” (Judges 16:19,20).
Samson, the great judge of Israel, slept a costly sleep. His story and example are clear for all to see.
Samson was a great leader, yet he fell into a lifestyle of ‘transgression’. To transgress means ‘to pass over a limit or boundary.’ Transgression is an ‘infringement’ or ‘violation of a law, duty or command.’
I would add to these definitions the words: ‘over time.’ It is only ‘over time’ that a seed flowers enough to reveal its true character. It is only ‘over time’ that the true harvests of our lives appear. It is only ‘after awhile,’ as one sleeps a ‘sleep of transgression,’ that Ecclesiastes 8:11 becomes a reality:
“Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.”
Just as Jonah went down in his ‘sleep of escape,’ so Samson runs red light after red light, until he finally crashes into the inevitable wall of sins’ consequences!
When a leader hits bottom, he has usually been falling for a long time! God is gracious. He protects us even in inappropriate seasons of slumber. We sleep the sleep of ‘escape,’ He sends grace. We sleep the sleep of ‘presumption,’ and He shows mercy.
God gave Samson opportunity after opportunity to repent of his sin, but he would not! Stepping over the line one too many times, the great judge of Israel slept a sleep of transgression from which he would never fully wake.
Satan, after shearing Samson’s locks of influence and power, quickly led him off to the grinding mill of slavery, bound and blind!
Please don’t fall prey to the deep sleep of transgression. Repent now. Let God’s gracious work of restoration begin!
“Awake thou that sleepest and Christ shall give thee light.” (Eph. 5:14).