"Afterward Delilah said to him, 'you've been making fun of me and telling me lies! Now please tell me how you can be tied up securely!" (Judges 16:10)
The story of Samson and Delilah is a Christian classic, a story of the dangers of walking by sight and the possibility of unreached potential. Samson was born to be a hero to the people of Israel and though he ultimately fulfilled his purpose (Judges 13:5), it was not as it could have been. The man who ultimately died blind and alone had every possible advantage and could have ended up a completely different story had things gone a little different.
While there were multiple instances where Samson made poor choices, it was those he made with Delilah which ended up fatal. In Judges 16:10, as seen above, Samson was faced with a choice. Up until this point he had tormented the Philistines with his great strength and Delilah was determined to figure out how. The last part, her question, is one that we would all do well to think on and consider. To Samson she asked, "How can you be tied securely? What can I do to ensure that the Philistine's greatest enemy becomes powerless?" Samson knew the answer and eventually came to ruin because he told her, but let's focus that question inwardly and ask each of ourselves, "How can I be tied up securely?"
While we may not be in danger of a Philistine woman tying us up and cutting our hair, it's true that each of us have certain things that we allow to tie us up. That stop us in our tracks and keep us from doing all that we might be able to do. This often comes with the face of sin. Whether it be alcohol abuse, anger, things we watch or listen to, relationships we've made, drugs, or any other number of things, at the end of the day sin is the ropes which often bind us.
It comes down to the topic of awareness. Samson knew what his biggest weakness was, didn't avoid it and ultimately fell far short of his potential. One of the biggest things we can do as Christians is to understand the areas we struggle with and to deal with them. How? By understanding that Christ has already dealt with them. Paul tells us that we have no obligation to do what our sinful flesh dictates (Romans 8:12) and that therefore, those things which might have bound us in the past cannot bind us now. Today take into consideration what things have securely tied you in the past and lean on the truth of God's Word, that though you may have been bound in the past those same ropes cannot hold you anymore thanks to the Blood of Jesus.