He had a God to Serve (Judges 13:2-5)

2/11/2010 10:22 AM

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

My Worship Time                                        Focus:  He had a God to serve

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                        Reference:  Judges 13:2-5

 

            Message of the verses:  “2  There was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had borne no children. 3  Then the angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, "Behold now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and give birth to a son. 4  "Now therefore, be careful not to drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing. 5  "For behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son, and no razor shall come upon his head, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel from the hands of the Philistines.’”

            These verses tell of the “angel of the Lord” coming to a couple from the tribe of Dan with a promise that the barren wife would have a child.  The tribe of Dan was to live near the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, but they could not drive out the inhabitants of that area so they moved closer inland and this couple lived close to Jerusalem. 

            The angel of the Lord was the second person of the Godhead, the Lord Jesus Christ, and he had done this before in human history, that is telling parents that they would have a child, for God does not send an army to do His work, but many times He has sent a child to do His work.  Abraham was promised a child, and Moses’ parents looked at him as a beautiful baby, and then there is this case of Samson, and also Samuel, and John the Baptist, and then of course there was the Lord Jesus Christ who was born as a baby.

            As far as the Nazirite vow it can be seen in the sixth chapter of Numbers, a chapter that Sandy and I just listened to two evenings ago.  The Nazirite vow was not usually a vow that was given from birth, but in the case of Samson and also John the Baptist it was given from birth, and that meant that the mother could not have anything from the vine, strong drink, or any unclean food, for this would affect the baby and disqualify them from being a Nazirite from birth.

 

            Spiritual meaning form my life today:  When taking a Nazirite vow one must be serious for there was seriousness in this vow and one must be able to stick to it because it was so serious. 

            There has come a time in my life when I have a great desire to draw closer to the Lord, and this happened in the last quarter of last year (2009), and although it is not like taking a Nazirite vow it is something that I am taking very serious and have a great desire to do, and so by the grace of God I will continue on this path.  Ephesians 1:17-19a in the Philips translation of the Bible tells what I want to do in drawing closer to the Lord:  “17  That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the all-glorious Father, will give you spiritual wisdom and the insight to know more of him: 18  that you may receive that inner illumination of the spirit which will make you realize how great is the hope to which he is calling you—the magnificence and splendour of the inheritance promised to Christians— 19  and how tremendous is the power available to us who believe in God.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1. To know more about God.
2. To receive the inner illumination of the spirit from God.
3. To realize the hope to which He is calling me.
4. To realize and receive the power available to me because of my belief in Christ.

 

2/11/2010 10:53 AM