The Importance of God
Numbers 6:6-7
“All the days that he separateth himself unto the LORD he shall come at no dead body. He shall not make himself unclean for his father, or for his mother, for his brother, or for his sister, when they die: because the consecration of his God is upon his head.”
One of the things I appreciated about my mother is that she never stopped teaching me. To the day of her death my mother taught me the importance of God. One month before she went to Heaven, I was at my mother’s hospital bed, when she made me promise not to cancel a meeting when she went to Heaven. She expressed to me that she would be fine because she would be in Heaven, and that God’s work shouldn’t be cancelled because she was gone. Though it was difficult to fulfill that promise, I’m glad she taught me that God is more important than anything or anyone.
This principle is taught in the verse above. God commanded the Nazarite not to defile his body by touching the dead, even if the dead were an immediate family member. God said the reason they could not touch the dead is because they were consecrated to God. In other words, God took preeminence over family, friends and possessions. He took preeminence because they were consecrated to Him.
The word “consecration” in the verse above means, “to be declared or separated for God.” In other words, when a person took the Nazarite vow, they declared themselves for God. They set themselves apart for God’s service. It is similar to a person enlisting in the armed forces. For four years that person declares themselves as a soldier for their country. They belong to their country until that vow is over. Likewise, the Nazarite set themselves apart for God, and He took preeminence over all.
The importance of God can certainly be seen in this verse. Too many people today don’t understand God demands that He take preeminence over everything in their lives. You may think you didn’t take the Nazarite vow, and you surely didn’t, but when you got saved you signed yourself over to God. 1 Corinthians 6:19 says, “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?” You can see that when you got saved your body became the “temple of the Holy Ghost;” therefore, God should take preeminence over everything in your life because you belong to Him.
Furthermore, God commands in Matthew 6:33, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Christian, you have no choice but to put God first in every area of your life. That means that God should never be pushed back for something else. If you must choose between God and something else, you always choose God. He is more important than anything in your life.
Though you may think that if you do this you will lose in life, that is not what Matthew 6:33 teaches. This verse teaches that if God takes preeminence over everything in your life then He will be sure to take care of you. When you make God more important than anything, including family, then He will be sure to add to your life.
My question for you is this, does God take preeminence in your life? Is God of more importance than your job, money, friends and family? This is what God desires, and this is what He demands. You will never lose when you make God the most important aspect of your entire life.