Evening, August 29
Go To Morning Reading
“All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of
the vine tree, from the kernels even to the husk.”
Numbers 6:4
Nazarites had taken, among other vows, one which debarred them from
the use of wine. In order that they might not violate the obligation,
they were forbidden to drink the vinegar of wine or strong liquors,
and to make the rule still more clear, they were not to touch the
unfermented juice of grapes, nor even to eat the fruit either fresh
or dried. In order, altogether, to secure the integrity of the vow,
they were not even allowed anything that had to do with the vine;
they were, in fact, to avoid the appearance of evil. Surely this is
a lesson to the Lord’s separated ones, teaching them to come away from sin in every form,
to avoid not merely its grosser shapes, but even its spirit and similitude.
Strict walking is much despised in these days, but rest assured, dear
reader, it is both the safest and the happiest. He who yields a point
or two to the world is in fearful peril; he who eats the grapes of
Sodom will soon drink the wine of Gomorrah. A little crevice in the
sea-bank in Holland lets in the sea, and the gap speedily swells till
a province is drowned. Worldly conformity, in any degree, is a snare
to the soul, and makes it more and more liable to presumptuous sins.
Moreover, as the Nazarite who drank grape juice could not be quite
sure whether it might not have endured a degree of fermentation, and
consequently could not be clear in heart that his vow was intact,
so the yielding, temporizing Christian cannot wear a conscience void
of offence, but must feel that the inward monitor is in doubt of him.
Things doubtful we need not doubt about; they are wrong to us. Things
tempting we must not dally with, but flee from them with speed. Better
be sneered at as a Puritan than be despised as a hypocrite. Careful
walking may involve much self-denial, but it has pleasures of its
own which are more than a sufficient recompense.