A few days ago we had a beautifully, heavy, wet winter snow. It coated the trees and was inspirational.  I headed out with the camera and was thrilled to once again enjoy such beauty.  One of the pictures I’ve always wanted to catch was snow-coated trees with the contrast of the brilliant red cardinal. I was doubly blessed.  It was breakfast time for the birds and there were a multitude of them at my friend’s feeder.  There were many male and female cardinals that day – and I have multiple pictures to sort through from my adventure.

This morning I was reading my devotional from 1 Peter 1:2

God the Father knew you and chose you long ago, and His Spirit has made you holy. As a result, you have obeyed Him and have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ.

My mind immediately remembered one particular photo of a cardinal set against the snowy tree. The stark contrast was almost like the cardinal was superimposed on the tree.  It definitely is set apart and stands out as a striking difference from the serenity of the peaceful tree. This being the season of Lent, Christians focus more often on the sacrifice God gave of His Son to die on the cross to save each one of us from our sins. Peter reminds us that we were chosen by God from before we were born to follow Him. When we believe in the resurrected Jesus Christ, we are filled with God’s Holy Spirit who guides us – our thoughts, actions and desires are set apart to honor God. As Christians our lives are to be set apart to honor Him. 

There is an old song by Brian Doerksen – Purify My Heart:

Purify my heart
Let me be as gold and precious silver
Purify my heart
Let me be as gold, pure gold
Refiner’s fire
My heart’s one desire
Is to be holy
Set apart for You, Lord
I choose to be holy
Set apart for You, my Master
Ready to do Your will
Purify my heart
Cleanse me from within
And make me holy
Purify my heart
Cleanse me from my sin
Deep within

I pray today that each one of God’s beloved followers may be filled with the Spirit to be intentionally set apart from the world to reflect the beauty of God in each one of us ~ Faye