Reading in Numbers 6 this morning . . . the details concerning those who sign up for the vow of a Nazirite. This “special vow” is essentially a determination by a man or a woman, for a self-determined period of time, to “separate himself to the LORD.” It is a vow in which the individual consecrates themselves wholly to the LORD . . . ordering their lives in a sacred separation as a display of devotion to God. For the duration of the vow, it will impact what they eat and drink, how they groom themselves, and what they can come in contact with. And, it is is costly, not only in terms of self sacrifice, but also in terms of material goods. At the end of this voluntary separation, the cart is loaded up with animals, bread, grain, and drink to be offered at the tent of meeting. This, writes Moses, is the law of the Nazirite.

Talk about gutting out a display of holiness. Talk about doing everything in one’s power to separate oneself to God. Talk about cutting away that which would defile in order to maintain a sacred separation to the God you love. Talk about a great effort . . . but one that, apart from an inner working of the heart, would be just that . . . a great effort.

I then read in Romans 2. There, the end of the chapter deals with another Old Testament practice intended to indicate separation unto God. Circumcision. But here Paul reveals the powerlessness of a great effort apart from an inward dynamic.

For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.   (Romans 2:28-29 ESV)

Less about a great effort . . . more about a matter of the heart. You can cut away flesh . . . abstain from certain foods and drink as unto the Lord . . . offer a boat load of offerings . . . but if it’s just going through outward motions without an inward motivation, then it’s just a great effort with no real meaning or value. “For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly.”

Rather, the pursuit of holiness and sacred separation is a matter of the heart. And the heart is not changed by “the letter” . . . not molded by vows and rules of conduct. Instead, the heart is revived by the active agency of the Holy Spirit.

That’s the separation we, as believers, desire. To have been declared holy in Christ . . . and then to be made holy by the sanctifying work of the Spirit.

Our determination to abstain from certain things, to put on other things, and in all things be His and His alone, coming not from a law which prescribes the external, but from the Spirit which transforms a person from the inside out. Our separation being not just a matter of a great effort, but of an obedience born from a gracious God who has begun a work in us which He will bring to completion.

It’s a matter of the heart. A “great effort” in the power of a great Savior and for the glory of a great God.

Amen?