Christian life

Numbers 15 – Keep It Up!

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It’s a good feeling to finally reach a goal.  The sense of accomplishment and achievement you get from reaching a goal is intoxicating.

But then what? What do you do after you’ve reached your goal? Do you sit back and just enjoy the fruit of your labor?

God answers that question for the Israelites in Numbers chapter 15. In this chapter, God refers to what is to happen after they enter the Promised Land. (Num. 15:2)

What is it that they are to do? Continue to do all that they’ve been told to do already. In other words…KEEP IT UP!

A team that wins a championship will not be able to keep their title if they don’t continue to work, train, and practice. A house that has been repaired and remodeled will not stay that way, without continued maintenance and up-keep. In the story of the tortoise and the hare, the hare lost because after he had achieved his large lead on the tortoise, he didn’t keep it up.

This is true of the Christian life. Although we never really “arrive,” there are times when we reach new levels in our faith and our relationship with God. These times feel wonderful to our soul. But, if we allow ourselves to slack off and coast, we will lose the very thing we worked to achieve.

Romans 12:11 tells us to never be lacking in zeal, but to keep our spiritual fervor. In other words, whether the goal is in the distance or under your feet, keep passionately following the ways and commands of God. This will smooth out the roller coaster ups and downs of life that come from us starting, stoping, and starting again with God.

Numbers 6 – Do You Vow?

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Numbers chapter 6 talks about a Nazarite vow. This is a vow in which a person separates themselves to God by separating themselves from certain things like: drinking wine or strong drink, having their hair cut, and being near a dead body…even if it’s a family member.

A Nazarite vow?! Who would do that, and what’s that got to do with me?

Not only is the ritual of a Nazarite vow foreign to us, the concept of a Nazarite vow is antithetical to the culture in which we live.

The idea of devotion through denial is not appealing to us. We are much more familiar with devotion through indulgence. Even in the Christian life, it’s so easy to assume that being devoted to Christ is about getting all of His goodness and resources we can get.

We have lost the idea that being devoted to Christ also involves denying ourselves…whether that denial is related to the pleasures of life we think we need, or the rights of life we think we deserve.

Even as I type this, my flesh cries out in opposition to denying myself pleasures or rights. But maybe that resistance itself highlights the importance of self-denial.

You can only be devoted to one thing at a time. (Matthew 6:24) At times, devotion to Christ requires denial of self, just as Jesus’ devotion to His Father required His own denial of self. (Matt. 4:1-11) (Phil. 2:6-8)

Perhaps we all need our own little Nazarite vow once in a while. Where is it you need to practice self-denial to better follow Christ?