FRIDAY September 22, 2023

The Vow of Consecration

So Paul still remained a good while. Then he took leave of the brethren and sailed for Syria, and Priscilla and Aquila were with him. He had his hair cut off at Cenchrea, for he had taken a vow. And he came to Ephesus, and left them there; but he himself entered the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews.
Acts 18:18-19

Aquila and Pricilla had become very good friends of Paul while he remained in Corinth. When it came time for him to leave, they joined him on his journey. They sailed for Syria together, and they became a good team. As Paul made his way back to his hometown in Antioch, he would travel about 1,500 miles.

At the port of Corinth in Cenchrea, Paul shaved his head. Why did he do that? Paul had taken a vow of consecration––the vow of a Nazarite (Numbers 6:2-5). He ended his vow by shaving his head with the intent of going to Jerusalem to worship God. Paul did this because he wanted to become all things to all men, but he never compromised. He always had in mind his Jewish brethren, and he tried, by any means, to reach them:

For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more; and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law; to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law; to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. Now this I do for the gospel’s sake... (1 Corinthians 9:19-23).

Paul did not quit. We see him in Ephesus, trying to reach the Jewish community through any means possible. There are two things we can learn from Paul’s example: first, the importance of consecrating your life to God, and second, to ask God to help you use creative ways to reach people from all walks of life with the Gospel message.

The mark of a saint is not perfection, but consecration. A saint is not a person without faults, but a man who has given himself without reserve to God.
~Brooke Westcott~

For more from Raul Ries, please visit SomebodyLovesYou.com!