They must have seemed nuts.
Bloody altars. Horns with incense. Intricate robes and garments with names engraved on stones and set in cloth. Sacrificing their first and best.
I can only imagine how this must have looked from the outside. Exodus 29 details how the blood of sacrificed animals must be used, wiped, sprayed and placed on specific parts of the altar, the horns, and the priests. As you read this section of scripture, faith in God can seem absurd and absolutely gruesome. You have to dig deeper to understand the heart of God in these acts. He was restoring His people to Himself, giving them a way to be forgiven, sanctified, and redeemed.
He was setting them apart.
Today, we blend in too easily. It’s easy to blend in with the people around you and to go your whole life without them knowing your beliefs or values. We keep our faith and our daily lives separate. We keep church at church, work at work, and family life in the home. But this is not what the apostles and disciples taught.
It is not what Jesus taught.
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God — this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is — his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Romans 12:1-2 NIV)
Do not conform. Paul tells us plainly that we are not to conform to this world. We are to be different than those who have not dedicated their lives to Jesus Christ. Not just in a solitary act of baptism, but in their daily comings and goings.
My son, do not walk in the way with them,
Keep your foot from their path; (Proverbs 1:15 KJV)
Solomon tells his son to be careful of even walking with sinners. People tend to become who they hang out with. I’ve often advised our children be careful who you hang out with, what you take in through sight, and hear through your ears. You become what you surround yourself with. I used to think I could take part in trends and culture and remain a follower of Jesus Christ, but it was foolish thinking. It was exhausting and demoralizing. My mental state went through depression, anxiety, and hopelessness.
We are called to go out and witness, we are not called to go out and live within the evil of this world.
On the mission trip to the DR, we witnessed and deeply felt evil. It was heavy. The missionaries there are absolutely called to be there, yet they daily surround themselves with believers in the morning and the evening, so they can stay strong in their faith when they go out to minister. Do not be fooled that you can live amongst non-believers, amongst people who go against God’s design and thrive. Jesus surrounded himself with those who would willingly pick up their figurative (and sometimes literal) crosses and follow Him. People that would encourage Him and walk the hard road with Him. He did minister to and eat with sinners, but He did not dwell there. He went off to be renewed by holy friendships. He went off to be renewed by His Father in prayer and solitude. He set Himself apart.
Possibly the most quoted verse telling us to be set apart is in Timothy:
"Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work." 2 Timothy 2:21
Joshua tells us that we must intentionally choose and show through our actions and behaviors who we are following. We will be known to our Savior by how we live our lives and if He knows us.
"But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord."
I want God to use me and I want to be ready for every good work He has for me. I want to be useful. Therefore, I cannot look like this world. I cannot stand with beliefs, acts, or trends that go against God and His plans. I have to intentionally choose. Which means I may have to let go of things that draw me further from His presence.
And that is hard.
To walk away from people. To draw boundaries. To set standards. It’s hard. But living as a Christian, as a Christ follower, it’s hard. Life doesn’t become easier when you decide to follow Christ, it will likely become harder and more frustrating because the enemy will begin to attack more and in sneakier ways. When you weren’t following Jesus, the enemy doesn’t bother with you. You are already set apart from glory. When you make the conscious choice to follow Jesus, now the enemy is mad and going to do something about it. The only part of being with Jesus is that He is with you went you go through trials (Paul promised this) which makes it bearable.
I hope I appear set apart to people in my life. And in the areas of my life where I am not apparently set apart, I pray He cleanses me until I can be an honorable vessel. I pray the enemy sees me as a threat, because that means I am in a position to lead others to salvation in Christ.
Romans 3:19-20 says it plainly
19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. 20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.
I read this analogy and it made so much sense. If I go to a celebrities house or the white house or where ever and say I know "so-and-so” let me in. The security guards would likely tell me to go away. But, if I go there and they were to say they knew me. They would let me in.
There is a difference in thinking we know someone and them knowing us.
We must become obedient to Christ and His Word (all of it) despite ourselves and our desires. We must be obedient, because we want to be near Him, known by Him, loved by Him.
Lord - I pray you make us conscious of our sin and bold enough to walk away from it and to be set apart.
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life. - Psalms 139:23-24 New Living Translation (NLT)
