You are set apart… for God Himself.

Reading: Psalms. 4: 1- 8
“Know that the LORD has set apart the godly for himself” Ps 4:3

We know that we are a separated people, called out of darkness… We say, we were in a deep pit, miry clay, without hope… We only speak of the places we were in, in our fallen stage and cry as if we just want to be freed from this bondage to any other place… However, is that the whole story? Here, the Psalmist says, the Lord has not just redeemed us, but He set us apart for Himself. He begins the statement by, “know that…”, because, we forget this truth so often!

God doesn’t just save you and then leaving you alone, somewhere on the bank of the pit you were rescued from. He makes you His own! Why does God set us apart for Himself? Because it is from Him that we have fallen. It is from Him that we have fallen in to sin, darkness, hopelessness and death! Away from Him, we are victims of Satan. Severed from His love, we entered into the world of God’s wrath… Therefore, even for our salvation, we need to be restored to Him. If we fail to be set apart for God, our salvation is not complete!

Once His property, we were lost for some time. Now we are restored… Now I am not an orphan. I have come back to my Fathers’ house! And now, I need to live with my father. I understand, away from Him, I am an orphan. I am not safe… Therefore, what I do is to live so close to Him that nothing would separate me from His everlasting love!

When God wanted to appoint a few people to help Moses in administrative affairs, He asked Moses to "Gather for me seventy men of the elders of Israel” (Num 11:16). Even when Jesus appointed the twelve, it was to be with him, and to be sent out to preach (Mark 3:14).

“You my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, are people, and I am your God,” declares the Sovereign LORD (Ezek 34:31). Yes, “you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls” (1 Peter 2:25).

Let’s remember, each moment of our life, we are His own.

Prayer: Restore us to thyself, O LORD, that we may be restored! (Lam 5:21) Further reading: Psalm 23; John 13 22-25