DON’T WAIT UNTIL you are too old to decide to serve Jesus. It pays to faithfully serve Him now.
Brother Chiwale Wilkinson stressed this when he addressed Pastor David Walkes and the congregation at Ephesus Seventh-day Adventist Church in Dalkeith, St Michael, last Sabbath day.
The young preacher, who shared on the life of Samson, said that while youth was an exciting time and a remarkable period of one’s life, it was also a time for death; as from the moment of birth, one faces death.
He looked at Samson’s lifestyle and his love for prostitutes which eventually led to his downfall and death.
Wilkinson said Samson went against his parents’ advice to stay away from “strange women” (the Philistines), and even though God was faithful to him twice despite his wanderings, his lifestyle was such that he kept making the same ungodly mistakes.
“Samson’s parents did all they could do for him, but Samson said, ‘I don’t want a church girl’. They are too boring. He rejected what his parents told him. He just wanted the women who pleased him.”
Wilkinson spoke of Samson’s victories when he slew the 1 000 Philistines, and the plan by the Philistines to have him killed. He added they decided to use Delilah to discover the source of Samson’s strength.
“You must be careful,” the young man declared. “The devil has some honey traps out there for you and me. Delilah practised whatever she could to bring Samson down. She was a skilful woman who knew the power women had over men.”
He added that as Delilah bombarded Samson day and night, he eventually revealed the secret of his strength. Having been paid by the Philistines to discover this truth, she eventually cut his hair while he slept, causing him to lose his strength.
“When Delilah saw that he had given her all that was in his heart, she called upon the lords of the Philistines. When she called them Samson did not realise that the power of God had left him.”
Wilkinson told his congregation that Samson compromised his principles, and paid the penalty. He was brought down.
He also spoke of the Philistines’ action of plucking out Samson’s eyes.
“Little by little he disregarded the commands of God. The devil desires to bring each of us down. They were now planning to mock Samson, but the Lord had a plan for Samson.”
He also spoke about Samson’s prayer to God to strengthen him just one more time, but noted that if Samson had listened to his parents, he would not have died the way he did.
By calling out to God, Wilkinson added, God heard his prayers and he was able to kill more Philistines during the final moments of his life than he had done before.
“Even though you have had a dark past, once you reach out to God, He will reach out to you. There is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin-sick soul,” he preached.
He ended his message the same way he started by telling the young people: “Don’t think because you are young that you cannot make a commitment to serve God. While we are still young, this is the time to make that commitment to Jesus. I don’t know what the devil is trying to entice you with, but tell the Lord you do not want to serve the devil.”
Wilkinson made an altar call during the service which was led by the youth, and many walked up for prayer.
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