To be honest, Blockhead Nation, this blog has been a long time coming.
I reached out to a dear friend of the podcast, and she gave me an idea for a blog. To say I have procrastinated would be an understatement! This was meant to be a Thanksgiving blog, but it turned into a Christmas blog due to my apathetic nature. On the heels of that statement, wouldn’t you agree that we can all be grateful for us adults who just persevered through the holiday?
The older I get, the more Christmas becomes focused on Jesus and less on Santa Claus. But, it’s for the kiddos, too, right? So we persevere through the wishlists to the cornucopia of gifts around the tree.
Now, to attempt to get to the meat of this blog…
My readers and listeners are very aware of the fact that my favorite sport is Mixed Martial Arts. Even though the sport is all about the individual and it’s a sport of champions, I will tell you with the fullest confidence and with every ounce of faith I have that the greatest warrior ever was Jesus. Shocking? Wouldn’t the greatest champion of the Bible be someone like Samson? Let’s talk about that.
Judges 16 verses 28 – 30 describes Samson as full of strength, renewed by God, pushing down the pillars of the house of Dagon, a deity with the head of a man and the body of a fish. Samson, as MacArthur’s commentary clarifies, is NOT committing suicide. This is Israel’s victory. Samson is “bringing God’s judgment on his enemies” and is willing to leave his life or death in God’s hands.
Now to bring Jesus back to the spotlight where He rightfully should always be…
The well-known lyrics of the familiar Christmas hymn are “O Come O Come, Immanuel, and ransom captive Israel…” Jesus has come in a lowly birth! He is the Holy City’s champion…and in a few months, chronologically speaking, He has come to die as a criminal.
Jesus said, “I…appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain.”
– John 15:16
Dr. Charles Stanley put it this way in his daily commentary:
“Jesus reveals to us things that we can never know any other way, and He enables us to do things we could never do by any other source of power. Jesus teaches us not only God’s commandments and how to apply them…, but He empowers us to keep and to do God’s commandments.”
Friends, readers, and listeners, Jesus is my Champion and I pray you will accept Him as yours.
Referring back to Samson, Charles Spurgeon describes it like this:
“He has many sad flaws and failings, but his heart is right towards his God; he does trust in the Lord, and he does give himself up as a man consecrated to his Lord’s service, and, therefore, he is saved.’ I look upon Samson’s case as a great wonder, put in Scripture for the encouragement of great sinners”
To conclude, if you came to this blog looking for Peanuts references, I saved them for this moment.
Robert L. Short says this in his book, Parables of Peanuts: “Man will cling to whatever false foundation he has built his life on until there is absolutely no ground left for him to stand on.” Snoopy sleeping on top of his doghouse can only last so long. Linus can only cling to his security blanket for so long…unless, of course, he fulfills his promise to turn it into a sport coat. You can only trust the fighting spirit so much. May you see the comparison to Samson’s death as a victory for Israel just as Jesus’ death on the Cross fulfills every prophecy of the Old Testament and is THE victory you can cling to! Amen.
Thank you all so much for checking out the blog and taking a few minutes of your holiday to embrace YFB’s thoughts and what is truly on my heart. Now, I have a BIG goal to share with you for 2024…
The BIG goal is to produce a high-quality 2024 YFB Christmas Special on YouTube and Facebook live! Friends will be invited and there will be guest stars throughout the broadcast. I get to do one thing: be the gracious host. I cannot wait!
See you all in 2024!
Love, Respect, and A Mug of Root Beer in hand,
YFB
Your Favorite Blockhead 