Isaiah 35:8 The unclean will not journey on it

• DAY 21 BIBLE READING

2 Cor 6 – Galatians 4


• DAY 21 PRAYER DEVOTIONAL

Isaiah 35:8 SET APART – THE NAZIRITE LIFESTYLE

A ‘Nazarite or Nazirite’ in the bible was one who was ‘set apart, purified, or made to reflect the glory of God.’ There are a number of examples of Nazarites in the bible, people who were set apart, sometimes just for a season, including Samson, Samuel, John the Baptist and Apostle Paul.

Jim Goll and Lou Engle say ‘One of the marks of Nazirites was that they would not eat grapes, raisins or drink wine or grape juice. Why not? What does abstaining from these things have to do with radical separation from God. These holy lovers of God denied themselves the legitimate pleasures of this life in exchange for the extreme pleasure of knowing God. By abstaining from grapes and all their products they were saying to God ‘all our fountains of joy are in you.’

In John 17:19, Jesus said ‘I was sanctified ; I was set apart so that you could be set apart’ and Paul said in Ephesians 1:13 ‘ you were given the Holy Spirit so that you could be sanctified, so that you could be set apart’. John Mulinde says ‘These scriptures help us to realize that we were called to be set apart unto God. Our lives belong to him, we were purchased by his blood. Giving our lives to God is the minimum requirement of what it means for us to be a Christian. However people lose sight of the command to give themselves fully to God. When they lose sight of the call to be set apart, they begin to cast off restraint.’ If we do not make a firm resolve to set ourselves apart, we too will be pressurized to compromise by the world and its system.

Lord show me where I have become careless, casting off restraint and taking on the standards of the world. Wake me up where I have become lethargic. Show me what radical abandonment to your purposes….and walking on the highway of holiness looks like in my life. Bring me to that place where I am ready to walk the ‘set apart’ life that you Lord are calling me to. Help me Lord.

Mulinde, J. The wake-up call, 74-81

Goll, J. and Engle, L. Elijah’s revolution, 72