Courtney Gilmore God set the Levites & the priests aside to be His special servants. They had no choice in the matter. But He also made provision for any man or woman with the desire, to separate themselves to Him. This person was called a Nazarite. They would make a promise to separate themselves to the Lord for a specific amount of time. During this time, the Nazarite also had to separate themselves from beer & wine, along with anything produced by the grapevine. Nazarites grew their hair long as a crown to the Lord & did not cut it at all. They also could not make themselves unclean by coming in contact with any dead bodies during their time of separation. If they came in contact with a dead body accidentally, they had to shave their heads, sacrifice sin, burnt, & guilt offerings, & start their vow over completely. When his time was complete, he offered the prescribed offerings, shaved his head, & burned his hair on the fire.
We too can set ourselves apart to the Lord. This can be done in the form of full or part time ministry or just for a period of time to get right with God or to seek Him in a special time of need.
Paul says in Romans 1:1 that he was a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God. So we can dedicate ourselves to ministry for small periods of time by doing things like volunteering for camp, VBS, or missions. Or we can set ourselves aside for His continual service as a music, children, or youth director, preacher, or teacher.
There are other times in our lives when we just need to set aside a day, a weekend, a week, or maybe even a month to clear our lives from all other distractions & just spend time with God. Sometimes we need the encouragement, fellowship, guidance, & council of other believers & sometimes we need to be completely alone. We may go to a retreat or a quiet little cabin in the woods. Maybe we just take off of work & spend time at the house reading His word & praying.
When his enemies gathered against him for battle, King “Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. So Judah gathered together to ask help from the Lord, and from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord.” (2 Chronicles 20:3-4) There are times in our lives when we desperately need the Lord’s help. That is when we get serious, separate ourselves from this world, & pray.
When the Israelites needed guidance for the safest route back to Jerusalem , Ezra said that he “proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from Him the right way for us and our little ones and all our possessions.” (Ezra 8:21) When we have big decisions to make, sometimes we just need to set aside time to clear our minds, be still, & ask God for direction. At times like that, we may have to stay separated to God until we have an answer.
When Jonah entered the city of Ninevah & told them that God was going to overthrow them because of their evil deeds, “the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. Then word came to the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes. He caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, ‘…Do not let them eat or drink water. But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God. Yes, let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish?’ Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way, and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.’ (Jonah 3:5-10)
There are times when either we have been going down a sinful road for a long time or we have messed up so badly that we have to stop everything, turn away from our sinful ways, & cry out for forgiveness. Sometimes this means a complete lifestyle change. We may have to physically remove ourselves from that lifestyle & devote our lives fully to God for a time, just to reset. In this instance, it may be enough just to cry out to God & change our ways, or we may need the help of a pastor, friend, doctor, counselor, or rehab facility.
We have a God that equips us in our ministry & is attentive when we devote ourselves to Him, seeking His help, guidance, or forgiveness. Thank Him today for being your God. For allowing you, an ordinary person, to draw near to Him & take Him as your God & Father.
Excerpt 2 from Episode 81 “Holy to the Lord” on Podcast and YouTube
