Set Apart
Scripture Readings:
Luke 1:15-17
“ For he will be great in the sight of the Lord and will never drink wine or beer. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit while still in his mother’s womb. He will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of fathers to their children, and the disobedient to the understanding of the righteous, to make ready for the Lord a prepared people.”
Ephesians 5:18
“And don’t get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless living, but be filled by the Spirit..”
Commentary:
Set Apart (Will Taylor)
As seen in our passage in Luke above, John the Baptist was set apart by God. And the same is true for all who have placed their faith in Christ: by God’s grace we have repented of our sin, and through faith have believed in Christ’s life, death, and resurrection, receiving the Holy Spirit as a guarantee of our inheritance to come (Eph. 1:13-14).
A truth like this begs a question: for what purpose have we been set apart?
For John the Baptist, he was the last of the prophets who proclaimed the coming Messiah. Indeed, he fulfilled the prophecies of Isaiah 40:3 and Malachi 3:1 along with 4:5-6 which spoke of “ A voice crying out: Prepare the way of the Lord in the wilderness... ” and a coming messenger who “ will clear the way before me... the prophet Elijah... to turn the hearts of fathers to their children...” From the womb, God set him apart by the Spirit, to live a life of holiness, in preparation for when God’s word would come to him (Luke 3:2). After this, he would testify about Jesus the Christ, who is the Messiah, the Word made flesh, and the true light coming into the world (John 1:6-9).
For us, our purpose is similar to John’s. He did nothing to attain this status of being set apart, and neither did we. Again, it is purely by God’s grace. Therefore, since we have been set apart, we must live like it, too. Our lives are now hidden with Christ, and we have put on Christ (Gal 3:27; Rom 13:14). Colossians 3 says that we are to put to death what belongs to our earthly nature, putting off the old self, and putting on the new. John was not encumbered by earthly things, specifically like wine or strong drink mentioned in the passages. These would have hindered his purpose to make ready the people of Israel for the coming Messiah, and kept his vision blurred from focusing on his task.
Why does this matter to us? Because believers are God’s chosen ones, holy and dearly loved. We don’t belong to our old ways; we are to be sober-minded, not conformed to the passions of our former ignorance (old self), but holy, because God, who called us and chose us, is holy (1 Pet. 1:13-16). We are set apart and made holy because we have been chosen, and because we have been chosen, we ought to know that we are dearly loved. God loved us enough to send his Son Jesus to the world to live in perfect obedience to the Father, and die a death we should have died.
What an expression of love! This is reason enough for us to lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares and to run with endurance the race set before us. By God’s power, we can keep our eyes on Jesus, proclaiming Him to everyone, just as John did.
Prayer & Reflection:
Father, you have set us apart to serve you. Thank you for your grace shown toward us, and may that same grace abound in us today as we look to honor you with our lips and our very lives.