“To change a man, you must first change his mind

Through the Old and New Testament, God always separated a man or a group of people in order to effectively use them for whatever He called them to do. For Abraham, He asked him to leave his family, relatives, country, and everything he knew and to go to an unknown location in order to use him. ( Genesis 12: 1 – 5 )

When Abraham obeyed, he not only got blessed and transformed , his son and grandsons and their families carried on in the blessing . Suffice to say, we are still enjoying Abraham’s blessings today.

Another separation that God did, this time as a group of people, was the separation of the Israelites from Egypt at the Red Sea. This was very significant because up until that time, the Egyptians were still in pursuit of the Israelites. Having been released from many years of slavery, the Israelites were headed to the land which God was leading them to, yet the Egyptians wouldn’t let go, so the red sea was a defining moment both to the Egyptians and the Israelites alike.

To the Egyptians, they were swallowed up by the sea, and to the Israelites, they never saw the Egyptians again. They may have struggled with other things after that, but the chapter of the Egyptians was a closed chapter. ( Exodus 14 : 5- 31 ) .

We have numerous instances of these,through out scriptures but moving to the new testament,we see more examples of people who were separated like John the baptist, called and separated before birth for the purpose of preparing the way for the Messiah and his obedience to that call, earned him a greatness which according to Jesus is the greatest of all men, born of a woman, under the old covenant . This means that John the Baptist was greater than every man who lived before the death and resurrection of Jesus ( Matthew 11:11) .

Paul, previously known as Saul, was another person who was separated and, during his separation, was equipped for what could be said to be one of the greatest adventures of Christianity. ( Acts 9: 5- 16 ) He singlehandedly wrote a significant portion of the New Testament, and his writings are as relevant today as they were when they were written.

You may not be called to leave your country, your separation may not be as dramatic as the Israelites in the red sea, you may not have to go live in the desert, half naked and eating only wild honey and locust and you may most certainly not be asked to go through some of the things Paul went through, though all of these are still possible today, yet your call to separation is as significant as everyone of these people mentioned above. You are called a believer to first be separated in order to experience the full benefits of your salvation package.

So what does separation look like today? The most basic yet most significant separation after the salvation experience is the separation from the world’s view.You see, there is a world’s system and there is a kingdom of God system, they are not the same and can not be lived simultaneously. That is where a lot of people are struggling. They are trying to lead double lives. When you lead a double life, you lose out on the best of both worlds, and what follows is frustration, mediocrity, and more frustration. The book of Romans puts it this way:


And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice-the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. [2] Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. Romans 12 :1-2 NLT

To be separated is to be set apart, to be different. In fact, one of its definitions says you can not co habit and be separated. If your assessment of God’s word is through your human senses, then your mind is not separated but still co habiting . God is calling everyone of us to renew our minds to His word, this is the only recipe for transformation and only then will we be able to understand God’s will for us and like Abraham and all the others, leaving the familiar and everything else becomes easier.

Much Blessings
Kingdom