Shalom everyone.
From the time God challenged Israel to be a “kingdom of priests,” it has been understood that His people are called to a higher standard of living in order that we might be a light to the nations. The call to be a “holy (set apart) nation” is manifested in how we walk — i.e. how we live our lives. In short, God’s purpose requires us to be different from most in every aspect of our being — from the heart to the mind and, finally, in our body. All which distinguishes us from the nations is designed to render an abundant life and, and by our example, to provoke the nations to come out of the darkness into the light.
Unfortunately, as humans we have an inclination to focus on the outward part of the walk, very often at the expense of the inward, i.e the heart issues. When this happens, the result is what was supposed to be a covenantal relationship often devolves into religious exercise. We get so focused on the outward part of things that we lose sight of why we were striving to be different in the first place — to be a light. So it is important that, from time to time, we reassess our present condition and consider whether our being “different” is actually making a beneficial difference in the lives of others.
When we first came to faith, and later as we began to grow in our understanding of God’s ways, most of our learning was borne out of a desire to do what was right. Many of us possessed a great zeal to learn as much as possible and to distance ourselves from anything that might be offensive to God — movies, music etc. Some of us, after being in the faith for many years, began to yearn for even more and that led us into what many call the Hebrew Roots movement. Once again, we began to distance ourselves from practices we discerned to be in conflict with God’s Word and we became even more “different” than before.
The point is, at whatever stage of the walk we find ourselves today, it is likely that at some time or the other, we have experienced everything I’m addressing here — the zeal to do what is right in the eyes of God followed by the inclination to “be right” in the eyes of men. Moving away from focusing on the inside of the cup to focusing on the cup’s outside. Sad to say, there are far too many who are more focused on being different for different’s sake than they are about making a difference in the lives of those still in darkness. When emissaries from John the Baptist came to Yeshua asking if He was the promised One, His response to them was:
“Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them.” (Matthew 11:4-5)
In other words, they were to tell John that people’s lives were being affected in a life-changing way — that is how John would know that Yeshua was the promised One. I would argue that, in the same manner, the world will know that we are His people; this is how they will see the light in us — when God uses us to make a difference in their life.
Frankly, I doubt that many in the world will be impressed with how many passages of Sacred Text we can quote or how much Hebrew we know. Most will not be impressed with how set apart we are in our appearance or eating habits. Most people are going to be impressed when we influence them in a way that changes their lives powerfully and for the better. They are going to pay attention to what we say when they see their sick children healed or when they experience a miracle in their failing marriage. That is my point today: being different from the world doesn’t really matter unless and until we are making a difference in the world — i.e. touching people’s lives.
Messiah told us that the world will know that we are His disciples when we abide in His Word (John 8:31) and when we love one another (John 13:35). Moreover, when we learn to live in unity with each other and with God, the world will know that Yeshua has been sent by the Father (John 17:21). All of this is descriptive of the call to be “a holy nation” and to walk differently from those in the world. In this way, we demonstrate that it is through Godly relationship, not merely religious exercise, that we are truly set apart. Furthermore, being set apart in this way positions us to be a source of blessing to the world which is, in fact, why we are here. So consider this question as you go through your week — “Am I different or am I making a difference?”
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill & Beth
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