April 29

Numbers 6 I stood in her backyard and watched as she came toward me escorted by her father. It was his last act of authority over her. She was beautiful. She was wearing the traditional white dress for the occasion, and in her hands were a bouquet of yellow roses. We exchanged vows to each other of extreme devotion. The vows were to separate ourselves to each other till ‘death do us part.’ My life now ought to be lived to make her happy, to protect her, to smile upon her, to be gracious to her, to give her peace. In exchange for her devotion, I pledged to her my undying love, all that I am, and that which is most precious to me, I gave her my name. While not a marriage vow, this ‘Nazarite Vow,’ as it is often called is described by Dr. Ronald Allen as, “An act of unusual devotion to God, based perhaps on an intense desire to demonstrate to the Lord one’s utter separation to Him.” The more negative person would look at it and say, “Why should I have to keep myself from using any grape product, cutting my hair or touching anything dead?” Simply one would do it to express ones utter devotion to the Lord. Why would one want to do that? One would desire it only because one has found His great glory and tasted of it. That one taste makes the denial of any other thing worth it. If you have tasted of His glory, then you know exactly what I mean. So here it is, the Nazarite Vow. It is the vow of one who desires to give themselves in extreme devotion to the Lord. I find it more than a coincidence that at the end of the Nazarite Vow description and requirements that the Lord instructs Aaron to bless the people with these specific words. Notice that in this blessing, the name of the Lord is repeated three times. As Christians, we read into this that the whole Trinity is desirous of blessing us. Yahweh, as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, desires to make us happy. Those who have given themselves to Him receive His blessing, His protection, His enlightenment, His grace, His smile, His peace. When He desires to do this for us, why wouldn’t I want to devote myself wholly to Him? But wait! There is still more. He puts His name upon us! I have a new name now. It is His name. He wants to glorify His name. It is done in us! It is His desire that all the world should see extreme love and extreme devotion when it sees us. The normal way in which the world will see His glory before the Day of Judgment is as He has placed His name upon His bride. Hmmmm. . . will the world see extreme devotion or will it be sullied by our spiritual adultery? He is all about blessing His bride. What will our world see? Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john