“When either a man or woman consecrates an offering to take the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to the LORD…”

Numbers 6:2 (NKJV)

I have often shared about my grandmother. She had a tremendous influence on my spiritual development. Once when I was a teenager and visiting her, she said to me, “Daryl, it’s all about consecration.” I didn’t understand what she meant, but those words stuck with me. Since then, I have learned the value of being consecrated. In the Biblical context, it means to be dedicated, separated or devoted to the Lord. It is related to being holy—that is to be set apart to God.

In Numbers 6, God gave instructions for how a man or woman could take a Nazirite vow. This would be a period of separation from certain things in this world in order to be dedicated to the LORD. You determined how long your vow would last, but God would hold you to the length of your commitment. The vow of the Nazirite involved three things:

1. Abstain from consuming anything from the vine. This included grapes, raisins, wine, vinegar and grape juice.
2. Abstain from cutting your hair. Incidentally, the Hebrew word for Nazirite means “untrimmed” as with an untrimmed or unpruned vine.
3. Abstain from touching any dead body. During the days of your separation, you couldn’t even touch a close family member who died.

At the end of your vow, you would present various offerings at the tabernacle. Then you would shave your head and the priest would put your consecrated hair on the altar along with the peace offering. After this, you could return to normal life.

Why did God allow for such a vow in the Law? In my opinion it gave the worshiper an opportunity to express his or her love for God. You voluntarily chose to separate yourself from ordinary things in order to devote yourself to the LORD. It was all about consecration.

We find a complement to this in the New Testament:

“And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.”

Romans 12:1 (NLT)

I have found that I cannot outgive God. The more I offer myself to Him by serving Christ and others, the more He blesses me. How has God blessed you when you’ve consecrated yourself to Him?

Photo by CDC on Unsplash