Set Apart

Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. —John 17: 17

The word “sanctify” means to be set apart. In the temple, vessels were set apart to be used exclusively in the worship of God. They were to be used for no other purpose. And that is what sanctification means for us—that we might be set apart from the world and freed from the world’s influences, that we might be committed and dedicated unto Him, that we might be God’s own property.

**Our lives are bombarded by sin on a daily basis.

Every time you turn on the television or the radio, every time you step into a mall or a grocery store, seductions and enticements try to draw you after the things God has declared to be impure. We need to partake of the Word daily in order to counteract these influences of the world. At the end of each day, let the Word of God cleanse you from all of the junk you have been exposed to. As Jesus said in John 15: 3, “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.” It is His Word that cleanses away the filth we have been exposed to each day.

Because we love God, we should want to fulfill His desires. If He desires that we be kept from the world, set apart, then we should want that too. We should be diligent to make our stand against evil. And if God says that the Word is what cleanses us, then we should go to the Word daily.

Father, we thank You that You have loved us and have taken us out of the world and given us heavenly citizenship. Set us apart, Lord, through Your Word. In Jesus’ name, amen.