#soap # Judges 14 ## Title: A Promise is a Promise ## Scripture: (Judges 14:8-9) “Sometime later, when he went back to marry her, he turned aside to see the lion’s remains. He saw a swarm of bees in the lion’s carcass, as well as some honey. He scooped it up with his hands and ate it as he walked along. When he returned to his father and mother, he offered them some and they ate it. But he did not tell them he had scooped the honey out of the lion’s carcass.” (NET) ## Observation: Here is an interesting question: Is it okay to do things in church or for God that you would not do elsewhere? Does doing things “in the name of God” give you the right to do whatever you deem necessary? Do the “ends justify the means?” As a Nazirite, Samson was not supposed to touch a dead body. He would have known this. However, when he saw honey in the lion’s dead body, he made the decision that it was okay because he was hungry. Also, he may have thought that since God gave him the strength to kill the lion, God was granting him this blessing and allowing him to ‘bend’ those rules. Does God do that? Short answer: No. God did not judge him the moment he did this. However, we can see his motives becoming more and more questionable as the story goes along and he is straying further and further from what would be godly decisions. ## Application: God doesn’t bend rules. If something is right or wrong, it is always right or wrong. It’s a more freeing way to live and it keeps you in God’s favor. ## Prayer: Thank You, Jesus, for helping us not to look for loopholes.