FIRST GOOD SAMARITAN BAPTIST CHURCH
The Caring Church, Preparing the World by Sharing the Word

WEEKLY WORD

THE JOY FROM A JAWBONE!
[Part I]

15 Then he found the jawbone of a recently killed donkey. He picked it up and killed 1,000 Philistines with it. 16 Then Samson said,

“With the jawbone of a donkey,

I’ve piled them in heaps!

With the jawbone of a donkey,

I’ve killed a thousand men!”

17 When he finished his boasting, he threw away the jawbone; and the place was named Jawbone Hill.

Judges 15:15-17
New Living Translation

When it comes to joy, a jawbone from a dead donkey is not the first thing that comes to mind. When we see joy in the bible it is in relationship to these scriptures….

• “…joy of the Lord is my strength…”

• “…joy comes in the morning…”

• “…count it all joy when it comes to diverse trials…”

• “…bring you tidings of great joy…”

However, in this text, we will expose the joy that comes by way of a jawbone. Understanding the joy in this text is to recognize the pain as well. It is factual and scriptural that joy and pain run as a package deal. Joy and Pain go hand in hand…in the sanctuary, family, and society.

What is interesting in the text is that we see the joy that came from a jawbone that killed 1000 soldiers but then in vs. 18 we see the pain where Samson feels that he is dying of thirst. We shared with you that with every victory comes vulnerability. We shared with you that with every success there may be a season of suffering that follows.

We said in the sermon that we cannot expect our lives to be lived in a straight line. When life is lived in a straight line…it means that we have FLAT-LINED. It is the ups and downs…highs and lows….the good and bad…that exposes a life that EXPERIENCES the highs but also having to ENDURE LOWS as oppose to excusing them.

Next week we will see how the lows became painful for Samson that we may learn from them to experience the JOY THAT CAME BY WAY OF A JAWBONE! God Bless

Dr. James A. Simmons, Senior Pastor