THE children of Israel were instructed in Numbers 15:37-4137And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 38Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they make them fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a ribband of blue: 39And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the Lord, and do them; and that ye seek not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go a whoring: 40That ye may remember, and do all my commandments, and be holy unto your God. 41I am the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the Lord your God. (Numbers 15:37‑41) to put a ribband of blue upon the fringe of the border of their garments, so that they might continually be reminded of the commandments of the Lord, and not seek after their own hearts and their own eyes.
What a constant reminder this ribband of blue must have been. Carrying it about with them, wherever they went, how continually must it have been before their eyes! Cannot we learn a salutary lesson from this?
It can be applied to every circumstance of life. We, as Christians, are not called upon to wear an actual ribband of blue, but we may well constantly remind ourselves of whose we are and whom we serve, that we may maintain our true character and never let questionable associations be allowed.
There is a great need for this. For these are days of great spiritual sloppiness, of world-bordering, of accommodating oneself to the spirit of the age. We are told on every hand that the times have changed, and the Bible and Christians must accommodate themselves to the changed times. It were well if the changed times were accommodated to the Bible. We need the Word of God to govern us as much as ever.
The ribband of blue sets forth in symbolic setting the truth of the heavenly walk of the Christian. Blue is symbolic of what is heavenly. Blue is the color of the sky, and the Hindu word for heaven is simply blue.
Christians belong to heaven, and need to exhibit a heavenly walk. Just as God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt, so we have to remember that we are not of the world, even as Christ is not of the world. Twice He reminded His Father of this in the memorable prayer of John 17. Again we are reminded that “our conversation [literally citizenship] is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Phil. 3:20, 2120For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: 21Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. (Philippians 3:20‑21)).
If we carried about with us what the ribband of blue signified — that is, our heavenly calling and character — we should be very careful where we went and what associations we allowed. We should not want the cinema, nor would the cinema want us.
It is having the spirit of this that leads to holiness, to the sowing to the Spirit, and not to the flesh. In this lies our happiness and safety.
A. J. Pollock.