Set Aside to Shine
People at yard sales will see something they like, set it apart from the surrounding merchandise, then carry it home and make it shine. When a family looks for a puppy, suitable for their children, they go through a similar process. From a group of puppies, one is set apart from all the rest, then carried home where it shines. Often, when we choose a picnic area in a park we want a place separate from other visitors of the park. We voluntarily set ourselves apart so that we can shine among ourselves. If there are a group of angry and violent rioters, most will choose to set ourselves apart to enjoy a more civil time at home.
Anytime that we set ourselves apart from the hatred, conflict, pessimism, and fatal attitudes of the world, we intend to shine with better inner qualities. We are experiencing sanctification as we come apart from the nature of sin. That is what Christ intends through His crucifixion on the Cross...our sanctification. As soon as we want Christ to be a part of our life, we are instantly sanctified, we are set apart from the world from that very moment. If we once belonged to a group of haters, as soon as we confess the love God has for us through the Cross, we are set apart from that sin. Then the Holy Spirit, through Jesus Christ's atonement, begins to sanctify us more completely within our soul, spirit, and body. We begin to shine. We are set apart to shine. We are sanctified through the remission of sins by Christ's shed blood on Calvary.
“For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.”
Romans 8:2