"What You See Is Not Always What You Get"

Have you every been thirsty for the taste of an ice cold Pepsi?

I don't believe there are a lot of things more frustrating than to crave a Pepsi, walk over to a soda machine, deposit my coins, press the Pepsi button only to see a different soda fall to the lip of the machine!!!

Ugh!!!

Friends, life can be that way. We must be careful, because unlike the trivial frustration of a wrong beverage, there are other other things much more sinister that lie in wait to deceive us!

What you see isn't always what you get!

Allow me to take you to a well rehearsed story from Sunday School. Sampson was a young man with great strength and unbridled destiny. He was pregnant with promise and had potential that was totally unbelievable.

This man slew 1000 men with the jawbone of a donkey and caught 100 foxes, set their tails on fire and let them loose through the harvest fields of the Philistines (enemies of Israel). He was respected, feared, well-known and on his way to totally deliver Israel from her captivity.

Then it happened..................................

Sampson fell head over heels in love with a beautiful lady from the camp of the Philistines. He disregarded the fact that she was from the enemies camp or that she pressed him for where he gathered his great strength.

All Sampson could focus on was her beauty and innocent appearance. At this point, I would like to scream at Sampson, "Be careful, what you see isn't always what you get!" Sampson became a slave to what he saw and it caused him to compromise his principles, his values, his childhood teachings and his life's calling.

Sampson's parents warned him about Delilah. They tried their best to dissuade him from chasing a girl from the enemies camp that they knew couldn't love him back. But Sampson would not listen. He knew what he saw and he wanted what was before his eyes.

The end of Sampson was premature, tragic and unnecessary. He allowed what he saw to control his decisions and it led him to being set up by Delilah, humiliated by his enemies, having his eyes burnt out with hot pokers and grinding at the mill like a common ox.

Sampson got what he wanted, but he lost what he had. The bottom line is, all that glistens is not gold! You may get what you want, but you may not want what you get! We must be careful in our lives not to be deceived by what our eyes see, but make decisions based upon what we know is right.

Sampson thought he was getting what he saw, A beautiful girl who would fulfill all of his dreams. Yet in reality, this beautiful girl was nothing more than a paid harlot from the Philistines who had been given a mission to betray and destroy Sampson.

Be careful friends, what you see isn't always what you get!