Christian movies have popped up in cinemas in recent years, all of them attempting to reach out to Christians and non-Christians alike, hoping to present the truth about God and His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.
The most recent Bible-based movie that was released showed us who Samson is. This man, famous for his supernatural strength and apparent liking for a woman named Delilah, was introduced in a very humbling and profound way in the movie.
For me personally, the movie gave me various lessons on being a child of God, a husband, and a man who, like all of us who believe in Christ, is given the great commission.
And so without further ado, let me share to you a few reflections from Pure Flix's "Samson" movie.
1) That Samson, despite his special call, was still a human
Judges 13 tells us that Samson is a special man with a special assignment from God.
"Now there was a certain man from Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had no children. And the Angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, "Indeed now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and bear a son. Now therefore, please be careful not to drink wine or similar drink, and not to eat anything unclean. For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. And no razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines."" (Judges 13:2-5)
Because Samson was a Nazirite, his divine assignment as judge and deliverer, and his supernatural strength, I have always seen Samson as someone who didn't have any weakness except women.
I was wrong.
Samson is a human just like any of us. While he did have a divine destiny (all of us do), he was also a man who had his share of issues. The movie simply allowed us to see that he was human like us.
2) That Samson, just like us, likely had his own dreams and ambitions
As I watched the movie with my wife, I realized that Samson was also just like us in the sense that he probably had dreams as simple as ours.
Samson was portrayed in the movie as someone who had been taught time and again that God had chosen him to be Israel's deliverer against the Philistines. Of course we could imagine him hearing God's plan for him from the day he was born until the time he grew older.
But just like many of us, he likely had something else in mind to do.
When we read Samson's story, we often shake our heads and think that he wasted his own life by pursuing women. Well, the film helped me see that we are just like him: always pursuing something else instead of God's will for our lives.
And yes, unless we come to admit that, we won't break free from it -- like he did.
3) That Samson relied on God for His strength, not on his gift
We see Samson as a strong man, yet he himself would always pray to God for strength. That's a very humbling realization.
Many of us rely on our God-given gifts. Worship singers rely on their voices, preachers rely on their skills in delivering the message, but Samson relied on God, not on his own God-given strength.
It's very humbling to think that Samson, knowing that he was strong, would ask God for strength.
