Our Heavenly Father has designed life to teach us about Him. This really tells us all we need to know about who we are and what we should be doing with our lives. Contrary to what most people think, life is not random, and we’re not here on this earth to do whatever we want to do. We’re here to live through God’s love because this is the very best life imaginable. It is impossible for human beings to come up with a better plan than the one God already has. He told His people in Jeremiah 29:11(NLT), “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” From the very beginning, God’s plan included the very best, to give us longevity—a future, and hope through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. You just can’t get any better than that.
Our Heavenly Father wants everyone to enjoy all that He’s made available, but the reality is that not everyone will. Adam and Eve showed us very clearly that we have choices, and we don’t always make the best ones or the right ones. Their choice to sin was catastrophic, because they chose to believe something other than what God had told them. They allowed themselves to be tricked by satan and forfeited all that God had given them. Adam’s and Eve’s actions warranted a death sentence, because Romans 6:23 tells us that the wages of sin is death. But through His infinite grace and mercy, God did not destroy them. He could have wiped out the two of them and started all over again, but He has shown us that He is love, and love redeems. He had a plan, and He rescued us through Jesus Christ.
It is clear through God’s plan that He has a purpose for us, or else we would not be here. God wanted a family and we are it. He has called us to be His very own people, and He has set us apart to be like His Son, Jesus Christ. Romans 8:30(NLT) says, “And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory.” Adam lost the glory God had given him, and it looked like we were going to be doomed. No one knew how magnificently God’s Plan would unfold through Christ. It was a mystery until Jesus came to earth and carried out the mission God sent him to accomplish. He redeemed us and restored the glory for us that Adam lost. This shows that God is for us utterly and completely! And if God is for us, who can be against us?
The rights Heavenly Father has bestowed on us through Christ shows His great love for us. These are spiritual blessings that we could never have earned. Ephesians 2:8(NLT) tells us, “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.” When we accept what God has done for us through Jesus Christ, we become a part of God’s family. We receive a new life through Jesus Christ, one where we walk by faith in God, and we lean totally on Heavenly Father for everything in life. As sons and daughters of God, we include Him in our decisions and choices. Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us that we should trust in Him with all our hearts and don’t depend on our own understanding about things. We must seek God in everything that we do, and He will direct our paths.
This new way of living is fueled by comprehending our ‘set-apart-ness’ which makes us fully one with God through Christ. We must train our minds to think in a new way. We can’t remain a part of the world’s way of being, but we must have mindsets, attitudes, and actions that mirror Christ. God tells us in Romans 12:2(NLT), “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”
Heavenly Father makes it crystal clear that the way to learn His Will for us is to allow Him to be at work in our lives, and this is done by our obedience to renew our minds to His Word.
The way that you and I behave, think, and live extends the welcome mat to God’s blessings. Our obedience to walk in His love and Word is the thing that shows Him we are cooperating with His purpose. In His Word, He tells us what is available to receive, and He tells us how we should live in order to open a channel so His blessings can be poured into our lives continually. Again, Jeremiah 29:11 tells us that He wants us to have a good future, and He has orchestrated things in such a way that circumstances and situations will work together for our good, but make no mistake, our faith in Him is the glue.
Our faith is the glue in our relationship with Heavenly Father. Every progression in life is contingent on our belief and trust in God. Our faith is what sets us apart. Ephesians 5:1 tells us to be imitators of God. To imitate Him to be and live holy and to do what He tells us. Doing what God says is an affirmation to our faith; it affirms that we are indeed His sons and daughters. Romans 8:29(NLT) tells us, “For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.”
We did not choose God first, He chose us. Jesus Christ told the disciples in John 15:19(NLT), “The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you.” Our Lord has called us to come to him! It is an honor to be set apart by God, and to be more like Christ. It is the most phenomenal privilege that any of us could ever hope to receive. We are no longer a part of the world. We belong to God, and as God’s people, we must pursue HIS purpose, not the world’s purpose. Our hearts and minds must be focused on God’s Will and Word. We must have faith in His plan for our lives, because He has set us apart to be His very own people, and as we seek to grow in Christ and know His Word, we will be blessed as His plan for us wonderfully unfolds. ■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“Set Apart for God”, written by JMack, 4theChristianMan.com© 2022. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.