Set Apart

The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Consecrate to me every firstborn male. The first offspring of every womb among the Israelites belongs to me, whether human or animal.”

Exodus 13:1-2

I wonder how you see yourself? Do you see yourself as belonging to God? Or is your life your own, to do with as you please? In Exodus 13, God tells Moses that all the firstborn children are to be ‘consecrated’ to God, which means set apart as belonging to God.

It’s not to say subsequent children weren’t to be raised knowing the Lord or anything like that. It would kind of be like if today everyone set apart their firstborn child to be employed by the Church as a minister.

But this principle wasn’t an end unto itself. As in, here is how we get more Church workers. It was to point to a greater principle. Which is, that Israel was God’s firstborn, set apart to glorify Him amongst the nations.

If you follow this into the New Testament. We aren’t the firstborn. Jesus is. In Christ, some are set apart for particular works of service (see Acts 13:2) but all are consecrated, set apart in and for Jesus to proclaim and portray God’s glory in the world. This is what you were made for.

For Today:

• Do you see yourself as set apart for God’s purposes?
• Do you see your possessions, gifts, health etc. as yours or God’s?
• Seeing all this, what is one thing that might change this week?

Pray:

• Praise the Father who as the rightful owner of all things.
• Give thanks for Jesus Christ who makes us holy.
• Ask God for His Holy Spirit to help you and others see yourselves as set apart for God’ purposes.