Judges 13 & 14: Seeing It is Secret
Verse of the Day: (13:18) And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret?

1. Secret (13:1-23)
But he said unto me, Behold, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink: neither eat any unclean thing: for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death. (13:7)

Certain things happened to us will always remain a secret to us, until the day we meet God. Though we know all things work together for good to them who love God, yet sometimes we find it hard to accept the loss of our loved ones, just like I lost my younger son through sudden death. God’s angel told Manoah that his name was a secret after he had prophesied that his wife shall have a son who shall be a Nazarite for life, and he shall be the judge of Israel. The Nazarites were never to take strong drink, or eat or touch any unclean thing because their lives were solely dedicated to God. Indeed, let us solely dedicate our lives to God as He is our Saviour, Lord and everything. (Deuteronomy 29:29)
    
2. Samson (13:24-25)
And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him. (13:24)

Manoah’s son was none other than Samson, the strongest man in all ages, who was also mentioned in the hall of faith in the Book of Hebrews of the Bible for his faith in God, though he actually failed God many times. Indeed, only by God’s grace are we saved through our faith, and not of ourselves, lest we should boast of it. (Hebrews 11:32-34)

3. Sweet (14:1-20)
And the men of the city said unto him on the seventh day before the sun went down, What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a lion? And he said unto them, If ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye had not found out my riddle. (14:18)

Samson gave the Philistines a riddle when he was about to marry one of their women. He knew from birth that the Philistines were his enemies and this was the great opportunity to mock them with a riddle that they could never solve. However, they went to his fiancé, and threatened to burn her and her father’s house if she refused to tell them the answer. She then wept and pleaded with Samson, and after 7 days, which was the deadline for the riddle, he told her. When they told Samson the answer, he knew that it must be his wife who snitched on him, because he had only told her that the answer that the strong was the lion, and the sweetness was the honey, because he had killed a lion, and subsequently the bees came and produced honey in the carcass of the lion. Instead of Samson mocking them, they mocked him. Indeed, let us trust God as only He never fails us. (Psalms 118:8)

Prayer of the Day:
Dearest God, please help me to accept by faith the secret things of my life from You.