Sampson, Superpowers and My Teenage Son

I don't know about your teens but both mine like to get chatty late at night. Its like something turns on and suddenly these two boys who have been relatively quiet all day, can now talk for hours. 

Not wanting to shut down the flow of communication or the fact that my teenage boys talk to me, I usually am ready and willing to listen.

This brings us to a few nights ago when my oldest mancub proceeds to sit down with me and start talking about Sampson. If you aren't familiar with Sampson's story from the Bible, he is the guy who wasn't ever supposed to cut his hair and had superhuman strength. He ended up telling a girl who was totally bad news his secret, and the Philistines captured him. I should also mention that the girl had asked him his secret several times, and each time she had tried it on him. It failed of course, until he shared the real secret to his strength.

So now you find me sitting in bed with a book (my nightly routine), and my son coming in and sitting in the office chair that my husband uses when he works from home. 

Mancub #1 "Mom, Sampson was dumb. Like not just a little dumb but like super dumb. We could have all had super powers if it wasn't for him."

I have to admit this caught me off guard for the topic of the evening, so of course I inquired what exactly he meant. He went on to explain how dumb Sampson was to share his secret with a girl; that as many times as she tricked him, he should have figured it out. My son expressed how extremely dumb he felt this was several times. (While I agree, I had to chuckle a bit. How many times have both men or women done dumb things for the other one?) 

Anyway, he goes on to explain his thoughts further. 

Mancub #1 "God may have been testing superpowers and look he ruined it for all of us. I mean I would have liked to have superpowers. But he couldn't handle it so now none of us get them." 

Now keep in mind there as lot of laughing in this conversation. But he had some valid points. Was God testing superpowers? Probably not. But imagine if Sampson had made a different choice. How much more could he have done if he had obeyed God? What if he had kicked Delihia to the curb (as my son said)?

After he went to bed, I sat thinking a minute. I have to admit, I'm glad he understands not to let someone talk you into doing something you shouldn't. At 15, that's pretty important. Secondly, it was great to see him thinking about this Bible story. We haven't been reading it or studying it lately, which means it's just one he was pondering on his own. That again is pretty cool for a teenage boy. 

Ultimately, his points is very valid and something we should all be thinking about. The choices we make matter and can have a big impact. Something to think about.