An English Anglican clergyman, John Newton (1725-1807) once said that “A soul disengaged from the world is a heavenly one; and we are ready for heaven if our heart is there before us.” This was confirmed in the writings of Thomas Watson (1620-1686) who also said “He that chooses God devotes himself to God as the vessels of the sanctuary were consecrated and set apart from common to holy uses, so he that has chosen God to be his God has dedicated himself to God, and will no more be devoted to profane use.” Therefore, it becomes clear that a believer is someone who has been set apart for honorable use by God in and out of the church premises. The paradox of our time is that women respect and submit to their pastors and dishonor their husbands. We cry during worship but discuss the style of dressing of a sister during sermon. We mostly take decisions based on feelings and facts and less of truth. A good or bad news is responded or appreciated based on the recipient’s affiliation to the bearer of the news and we destroy good trees to build inanimate objects. We do all these with a conscious mind and yet profess Jesus. These characteristics clearly shows that we are still ignorant of our new being in Christ Jesus for it is written “You have been set apart as holy to the LORD your God, and he has chosen you from all nations of the earth to be his own special treasure”(Deuteronomy 14:2, NIV).
There are many examples in the scripture where some people who were used mightily by God had to be set apart. We saw God setting apart the Israelites as his own among many nations. We also saw God setting apart the tribe of Levi amongst the Israelites for honorable use and even amongst the tribe of Levi various individuals were set apart for specific purposes. Far from priesthood and nations, we saw Prophet Elisha giving another prophet a specific task to anoint an individual to become a king and the first thing he told him to do was to set him apart from his peers “… and go in and make him rise up from among his associates, and take him to an inner room” (2 Kings 9:2, NKJV). This becomes more clearer when God himself through his spirit informs the leadership of the early church to set apart for him, Paul and Barnabas “While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them” (Acts 13:2, ESV). This means that you can never engage in good works or be like Jesus if you haven’t been set apart.
In the passage below, we get a clearer understanding of what it means to be set apart.
“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the air , the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience –among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind but God being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ- by grace you have been saved.”
(Ephesians 2:1-5, ESV).
From the passage, we come to appreciate that the Father sets apart anyone who comes into the saving knowledge of his son from his old self for it is written “Therefore if anyone be in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17, ESV).
One will then ask, how can I set myself apart to be like our master Jesus? To an unbeliever, you must first accept that you are a sinner and you cannot save yourself from the bondage of Sin therefore you need a savior who is Jesus Christ to redeem you from the bondage of sin. For it is written “for a7ll have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” and the “the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus.” Rom 3:23 and Rom 6:23 respectively. However, it is also written that “For God so loved the world he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life.” and “ If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead , you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” John 3:16 and Rom 10:9-10 respectively. You then become a new creation set apart by God for holy use. After this, one has to make a conscious effort through the word of God and his spirit to work out our salvation with fear and trembling; this is the continuation of setting yourself apart as far as your soul is concerned.
To the believer you must consciously renew your mind with the word of God as stated by Apostle Paul that “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Rom 12:2, ESV). This is true because the only person to walk on the path of righteousness is a person who has a renewed mind in Christ. It testifies what David through the leading of the Spirit said that “He restores my soul; he leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name sake” (Psalms 23:3, ESV). Again, a believer who sets himself apart has an effective prayer life. Most Christians only have a congregational prayer life, a prayer life when Christians only commune with God in prayer only during church service which is not the best. We can effectively set ourselves apart when we have an effective prayer life. It was recorded in the Old Testament a story about the locking up of the Heavens for three years according to the words of Elijah . The New Testament however unveiled the activity that proceeded the locking up of the Heavens by the prophet, fervent prayers. [“Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth.” (Jam 5:17, ESV) ]. Lastly you must have a plan in life as far as setting you self apart is concerned. We have to be reminded that even the Son of God walked on the surface of the earth with a plan and didn’t live his life anyhow for it is written “his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.” For not even his brothers believed in him. Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here.”( John 7:3-6, ESV).
We have to also realize that God will only help you in your quest of setting yourself apart only when you have set your heart to achieve that with his help through a written down goal. The scripture says “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us” (Ephesians 3:20, ESV). This means that God will only exceed what you plan in him.

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