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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
The Lord said to Moses, "Speak to the Israelites and say to them: 'If a man or woman wants to make a special vow, a vow of separation to the Lord as a Nazirite, he must abstain from wine and other fermented drink and must not drink vinegar made from wine or from other fermented drink. He must not drink grape juice or eat grapes or raisins. As long as he is a Nazirite, he must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine, not even the seeds or skins.’
'During the entire period of his vow of separation no razor may be used on his head. He must be holy until the period of his separation to the Lord is over; he must let the hair of his head grow long. Throughout the period of his separation to the Lord he must not go near a dead body. Even if his own father or mother or brother or sister dies, he must not make himself ceremonially unclean on account of them, because the symbol of his separation to God is on his head. Throughout the period of his separation he is consecrated to the Lord.’
'If someone dies suddenly in his presence, thus defiling the hair he has dedicated, he must shave his head on the day of his cleansing—the seventh day. Then on the eighth day he must bring two doves or two young pigeons to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. The priest is to offer one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering to make atonement for him because he sinned by being in the presence of the dead body. That same day he is to consecrate his head. He must dedicate himself to the Lord for the period of his separation and must bring a year-old male lamb as a guilt offering. The previous days do not count, because he became defiled during his separation.’
'Now this is the law for the Nazirite when the period of his separation is over. He is to be brought to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. There he is to present his offerings to the Lord: a year-old male lamb without defect for a burnt offering, a year-old ewe lamb without defect for a sin offering, a ram without defect for a fellowship offering, together with their grain offerings and drink offerings, and a basket of bread made without yeast—cakes made of fine flour mixed with oil, and wafers spread with oil.’
'The priest is to present them before the Lord and make the sin offering and the burnt offering. He is to present the basket of unleavened bread and is to sacrifice the ram as a fellowship offering to the Lord, together with its grain offering and drink offering.’
'Then at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, the Nazirite must shave off the hair that he dedicated. He is to take the hair and put it in the fire that is under the sacrifice of the fellowship offering.’
'After the Nazirite has shaved off the hair of his dedication, the priest is to place in his hands a boiled shoulder of the ram, and a cake and a wafer from the basket, both made without yeast. The priest shall then wave them before the Lord as a wave offering; they are holy and belong to the priest, together with the breast that was waved and the thigh that was presented. After that, the Nazirite may drink wine.’
'This is the law of the Nazirite who vows his offering to the Lord in accordance with his separation, in addition to whatever else he can afford. He must fulfill the vow he has made, according to the law of the Nazirite.'"
Numbers 6:1-21
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
In the first twenty-one verses of Numbers, chapter 6, we find the Lord giving guidance on how an Israelite could become a Nazarite, fully separating themselves from the world to devote themselves to Him.
In this passage, we see where there was stringent requirements for anyone who desired to take what was known as the “Nazarite vow” and we should note that the spiritual expectations are the same that God expects from anyone who would place their trust in Jesus and therefore become one of His children (Romans 8:14-17).
Here are three key areas I would like to highlight in regard to any person – past, present, or future – who is motivated toward total dedication to God:
First, dedication to God requires commitment.
As we read through these verses, we see that the Lord wasn’t commanding every Israelite to become a Nazarite. Rather, He put the invitation forward with the associated required obligations clearly stated for the one who may have been thinking about taking the vow. With this, it was up to the individual man or woman to make the commitment to follow their God in such a special, devoted manner.
Today, the level of devotion to the Lord is still placed in the hands of people who can choose whether or not they want to believe in Him and then submit to His will and way. He doesn’t coerce or force anyone but rather wants them to come willingly, ready to surrender themselves to Him while living a faithful, obedient life that seeks to glorify Him in all things.
A truly dedicated and committed God-believer is one who seeks to carry out the desires of the Lord in all facets of their lives and this leads me to point number two.
Dedication to God requires personal discipline.
Anyone can proclaim a vow and profess a willingness to obediently devote themselves to God but putting those words into action is a totally different story. As the old saying goes, "Talk is cheap", and often it is our behavior that will either validate or invalidate the things we say.
We need to know that our Lord wants us to not just "walk the walk and talk the talk" but to "walk His walk and talk His talk". He doesn’t want us to merely "mean what we say and say what we mean" but rather "mean what He says and say what He means". In other words, He wants us to exercise inner self control to the degree that we willfully separate ourselves from any worldly influences around us so that all that we say and do is completely from the Lord. In that place and space, He and He alone dictates everything in our lives.
To accomplish this, we need to exercise great personal discipline and that only comes from embracing the strength of the Lord through the Holy Spirit who lives and abides within every person who believes in Jesus as Savior. In the end translation, not one single person is strong enough to stand using their own power. We are called to total surrender and we’ll only be successful in doing that by allowing the Lord to help us and not depending on anything we might be able to do.
This takes me to the final point in today’s message:
Dedication to God requires sacrifice.
The man or woman who wanted to set themselves apart for the Lord was to give up certain things. They were supposed to "abstain from wine and other fermented drink and must not drink vinegar made from wine or from other fermented drink." They also were expected to "not drink grape juice or eat grapes or raisins." Additionally, "no razor" was to be used on the head and their hair was to "grow long" during their period of “separation to the Lord". They were also to avoid dead bodies, even if they were their own family members, although we read that provisions were made if the person inadvertently came in contact with someone who had died.
At the end of the period of separation to the Lord, the scriptures tell us that the person was to come to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting where they would present the following offerings to the Lord: "a year-old male lamb without defect for a burnt offering, a year-old ewe lamb without defect for a sin offering, a ram without defect for a fellowship offering, together with their grain offerings and drink offerings, and a basket of bread made without yeast—cakes made of fine flour mixed with oil, and wafers spread with oil." These expensive offerings, along with the shaving of the hair off the Nazarite’s head, were just a further extension of the sacrifice required of one who was fully devoted to the Lord.
Today, the Lord requires no less of a spiritual sacrifice from us. For when we commit ourselves to fully follow Him, we need to be ready to lay everything aside, just as our Savior Jesus did in His life, willingly carrying out the will of God the Father by bearing the sin of the world while being sacrificed on the cross of Calvary. Through this selfless act of love, God surrendering His only Son who was a Nazarene, we see first-hand what total dedication looks like so that we know what’s expected of us as we commit ourselves to separate from the world in order to be set apart and sanctified by Him and for His service.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.
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