Set Apart

 As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

— 1 Peter 1:14-16

Gracious Lord Jesus, my friend and my King,

When thinking about being an obedient child, one might conjure up the image of a dutiful but woefully restrained child, unable to live the carefree, childlike life they were created for. Forced instead into living a dull drudgery in order to please and satisfy their heavy-handed parent. Quite to the contrary, the picture of an obedient child is of a child who truly feels loved and cherished by their parent and wants to obey. They aren't like the unruly, untrained kids surrounding them. They aren't rebellious and selfish. They are mature for their age, pleasant to be around, and a delight to their parent. They aren't controlled and constrained. They are free to be who they were made to be within the safe boundaries their wise parent has set for them.

As an obedient child, I no longer conform to the evil desires I once had. That means I'm no longer fashioning my mind and my character according to the pattern of evil desires (lusts, longings, cravings, desires for what is forbidden). That was how I conformed my life and thinking when I lived in ignorance, blind to the truth, lacking knowledge and understanding of divine things.

But now, because I have been called (kaléo: invited, to be given a name, and called to bear that name) by a holy God, I have been invited to join God in His holiness. This holiness is not just moral purity but it means "apartness." The idea is that God is separate, different from His creation, both in His essential nature and in the perfection of His attributes. The incredible reality is, rather than building a wall around His apartness, God calls us to come to Him and share His apartness. He calls us to come join Him in being separate and distinct from the world.

Gracious Jesus, today I choose to live as an obedient child who wants to please His Heavenly Dad. To put off again today the evil desires and lusts I once had when I didn't know better. I choose to enter into Your "separateness" and live this new life of holiness in all I do.

— In Jesus' Name I pray, Amen!

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