January 27, 2022 - Numbers 5-8

How about some selected thoughts from individual chapters? Chapter 6 of Numbers presents the Nazirite vow. A Nazirite is one who is separated or devoted in a special way and who commits to foregoing, or avoiding, certain things (strong drink, trimming of his hair, contact with a dead body) in order to keep himself devoted and ritually clean and, therefore, able to focus supremely on the Lord and any task that is undertaken for the Lord. Always, for a godly man or woman, there are those things that compete with the Lord for attention in our lives. Always, we are to be striving toward God, focused on him, loving him, and serving him. But there are times in our lives when we need, for special purposes, to focus even more intently. Such intensity seems to be the goal of the vow of a Nazirite.

Chapter 7 relates the story of the consecration of the tabernacle and the offerings made, one by one, by the heads of the houses of Israel. All pitched in. All brought offerings. This was a community responsibility, and everyone did his part. It’s a good thing, in a church or in a family or in a group, when everyone pulls and works together. A good reminder that the Christian life is not a solitary life; rather, it is a life lived in community with others and in service to our God.

Take my life . . .

Take my hands . . .

Take my voice . . .

Take my silver and my gold . . .

Take my will . . .

Take my love; my Lord, I pour

at thy feet its treasure store.

Take myself, and I will be

ever, only, all for thee,

ever, only, all for thee. -- Frances R. Havergal (1874)