In Judges 16:18-21, we see the agony of a backslider manifested in the loss of Samson’s eyes. To lose one’s physical, intellectual or spiritual vision is very agonising. Samson, a Nazarite of God from the womb, broke the covenant of his calling first as an Israelite and then as a Nazarite. With reference to the inhabitants of the land of Canaan such as the Philistines, God in Deuteronomy 7:3 had thus commanded the children of Israel:
“Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.”
Contrary to this instruction, Samson went to seek the hand of a Philistine woman in marriage. When his parents tried to guide him back to the right path, he in Judges 14:3 said:
“.....Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well.”
Also, concerning Nazarites such as Samson, God in Numbers 6:6 had thus commanded:
“All the days that he separateth himself unto the LORD he shall come at no dead body.”
But the devil ensnared Samson with honey in the carcass of a dead lion he had killed. In the process of collecting honey to eat, he ended up defiling himself (Judges 14:8-9).
 
Many children of God are, like Samson, erring in the choice of a marriage partner. Some have been destroyed by their appetite, because they could not resist the devil when he asked them to turn stone to bread by sleeping with a personnel manager to secure a job. To such people, the end justifies the means, but the question is: can this temporary “respite” be worth the agony of backsliding? One lesson we must quickly learn is that, the moment a Christian begins to slide backward into his or her old way of life or into things that God frowns at, he or she loses the power of spiritual vision. Such a fellow begins to wallow in darkness of untold agony. After the last straw that broke the back of Samson’s spiritual camel was engaged, the Bible in Judges 16:20 says:
“...And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the LORD was departed from him.”
Alas, the process of Samson’s downfall was complete and his eyes were put out. The worst thing that happened to Samson was that he died with his enemies; hence, he could not be considered a victor. My prayer for you is that you will not backslide in Jesus’ Name.