AS OLD AS MAN

"But Samson's wife was given to the friend who had been his best man" (Judges 14:20, Bible in Basic English). 

A betrayal occurs when you violate the confidence someone else has reposed in you. It is to deceive someone who has trusted you or to hurt someone who trusts you (such as a friend or relative) by not giving help or by doing something morally wrong against them. The act of betrayal is as old as man and it goes on in our world in different forms and shapes on a daily basis. It produces hurts, heartaches, depression, discord among brethren and so many other emotional imbalances that further societal disequilibrium. 

There are many reported cases of betrayal and backstabbing in the Bible. Adam, the first man betrayed God when he disobeyed Him and sold out to Satan. Cain betrayed the brotherly trust of Abel when he murdered his own younger brother in cold blood. Absalom betrayed his own father David by usurping the throne and sending him into the wilderness as a fugitive. The most telling of these betrayal cases is that of Judas Iscariot who betrayed our Jesus Christ, selling the Lord to the enemy for thirty pieces of silver. But in all, I have discovered that no one gets on in life by betraying others. 

In our Bible verse for today, Samson's friend and companion whom he had relied upon to help him negotiate for a wife ended up marrying Samson's bride. That must be very painful and hurtful for Samson. It is ever so for everyone who has been betrayed. On the other hand, it shows the betrayer as callous, selfish and heartless. If you have betrayed someone or a cause to which you have hitherto given your pledge, you must repent and make amends. And if you are presently violating the trust someone has put in you, please apply the breaks and start being faithful. 

Peter is an encouraging example of somebody who changed from being a betrayer. Remember that he also betrayed the Lord Jesus when he denied Him and swore that he had never met Jesus. But the beautiful thing about Peter which is unlike all these other cases of betrayal is that Peter repented after he realised that he had done wrong. The Bible says that Peter wept bitterly and thereafter, we saw him taking appropriate steps to make things right by living the rest of his life in active service to proclaim the Christ he had denied. Peter used all the opportunities available to him to exhibit faithfulness to the very cause he had betrayed. 

For you my dear friends, the Lord wants you to stop the betrayal right now. Are you betraying your spouse? Stop it now so that you don't destroy your marriage. Are you betraying the organization you work for? Stop it now so that you don't destroy your career. It's time to show yourself faithful so that you can reap the reward of faithfulness