Ravi Zacharias was a distinguished Christian apologist, best-selling author, and minister until his death in May 2020. Sadly, a few months after his death, national news revealed his secret, sordid, sleezy sexual sins that had remained undisclosed for years. According to the reports, he was a deviant pervert and a serial rapist. If the reports are true, Zacharias had experiential insight concerning sin's stronghold and its ultimate destructive nature. Maybe that's why he's quoted as saying, "Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay."
“King Solomon loved many foreign women ... He had seven hundred wives who were princesses and three hundred who were concubines, and they turned his heart away. When Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away to follow other gods. He was not wholeheartedly devoted to the Lord his God” (1 Kings 11:1–4). Sin took the not-so-wise king far, kept him long, and cost him much!
Samson, Israel's judge, appears to have been morally bankrupt."Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute and went to bed with her” (Judges 16:1). Three verses later we read, “he fell in love with a woman named Delilah, who lived in the Sorek Valley” (Judges 16:4). Just as he had done as a younger man in Timnah, Samson fell for a Philistine woman. Remember, the Philistines oppressed and tormented Israel during Samson’s lifetime (Judges 13:1).
When Delilah, the seductress, quizzed Samson about his supernatural strength, Samson seemed oblivious to her wicked scheme. Playfully, he first told her that his strength would be lost if he was tied up with “seven fresh bowstrings” (Judges 16:7). So, what did she do? She tied him up with “seven fresh bowstrings” then cried out, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” (Judges 16:9, NKJV). With little effort, Samson broke his bonds.
When Delilah batted her eyelashes and asked again about the secret of his strength, the dope should have run away. He didn’t. He said, “If they tie me up with new ropes that have never been used, I will become weak” (Judges 16:11). So, what did she do this time? Yep. She tied him up with new ropes and called out, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” (Judges 16:12, NKJV).
Sadly, the story is repeated a third time... and a fourth. Delilah “nagged him day after day and pleaded with him until she wore him out, he told her the whole truth” (Judges 16:16-17). With his head shaved, she shouted the fourth time, “ ‘The Philistines are upon you, Samson!’ So he awoke from his sleep, and said, ‘I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free!’ But he did not know that the Lord had departed from him” (Judges 16:20, NKJV). Sin took him far, kept him long, and cost him much!
How about us? Me and you? We must rely upon God’s grace! We must faithfully obey God’s instruction: “Flee sexual immorality! ... Don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought at a price. So glorify God with your body” (1 Corinthians 6:18–20) and “Flee from youthful passions, and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart” (2 Timothy 2:22).
All Scripture quotations, except as otherwise noted, are from
Holman Bible Publishers’ Christian Standard Bible.
