We Are Set Apart

 

As I mentioned before, my mom passed away in July. We’ve started going through the house, cleaning things out and distributing items to family. My parents had a set of fine china that hasn’t found a home yet. The younger generation today has little interest in such things and I find that sad. I have many fond memories of holidays and other special occasions when we brought out the fine china for the celebration. We took special care because we didn’t want anything to break or be damaged.

 

Paul said to Timothy, “In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work” (2 Timothy 2:21). We set apart certain articles in our household for special use because they have great value to us. As Christians, we have been set apart by God because we have great value to Him. He has claimed us as His own. We are no longer slaves to the world and its beliefs. We are called to live by God’s standards.

 

We are set apart, not to just sit on the shelf and look nice, but to be useful for the Kingdom. Paul described himself in his letter to the Romans as, “Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God” (Romans 1:1). The Holy Spirit said to the church at Antioch, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them” (Acts 13:2). God will use us for His purposes if we allow Him to do so.  It’s what we were made for. “We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10).

 

The Hebrew word meaning “set apart” is the basis for the word “holy” in the Bible. Another way of saying we are set apart is to say that we are called to be holy. We may not feel holy – we may feel like old china, chipped and with other imperfections - but it is God that makes us holy. We’ll talk more about the process of sanctification next week.

 

Today, let’s live in the knowledge that God loves us, values us, and claims us as His own. Let it affect all that we say and do.

-----

The individual posts in this blog have been collected into a book, Reflections From the Basic Truths Blog.  It is available for free as an ebook through Barnes and Noble, https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/reflections-from-the-basic-truths-blog-james-yarmchuk/1147055811?ean=2940181202702, Apple Books, and multiple other book websites. It is available for a minimal charge on Amazon and can also be purchased as a paperback through them.