Some Nazarite vows were for a limited period of time – e.g. 30, 50, 60 days, whereas others began at birth and were, therefore, life-long. This meant that each day from birth a Nazarite had to be acutely aware of how seriously God viewed sin. Even if a sin committed was considered to have been unavoidable, it was deemed to have disturbed the vow that the person had made and the period covering the vow had to start all over again, Numbers chapter 6 verse 12. Various sacrificial offerings had to be made to bring about cleansing and restoration.

Frances Ridley Havergal, the well-known hymn writer, expresses the prayer that ought to be in our hearts if we wish, like the Old Testament Nazarites, to dedicate our lives to God:

Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee;
Take my moments and my days, let them flow in ceaseless praise.

Take my will and make it Thine; it shall be no longer mine;
Take my heart, it is Thine own; it shall be Thy royal throne.

Take my love; my Lord, I pour at Thy feet its treasure store:
Take myself and I will be ever, only, all for Thee.

An unknown hymnwriter wrote these words, which could easily bear the title, ‘The Hymn of the Nazarite’:

Only to be what He wants me to be, every moment of every day;
Yielded completely to Jesus alone, every step of the pilgrim way.
Just to be clay in the Potter’s hand; ready to do what His will commands;
Only to be what He wants me to be, every moment of every day.

If only Samson had lived every day in the good of these words, he would not have ended his days blinded by the Philistines and bound in chains in the prison house! There could have been so much more for God in his life. It was only the grace of God that allowed his name to appear in the great gallery of faith in Hebrews chapter 11.