“The God of Israel hath separated you” (Num. xvi. 9).
The little plant may grow out of a manure heap, and be surrounded by
filth, and covered very often with the floating dust that is borne upon
the breeze, but its white roots are separated from the unclean soil, and
its leaves and flowers have no affinity with the dust that settles upon
them; and after a shower of summer rain they throw off every particle of
defilement, and look up, as fresh and spotless as before, for their
intrinsic nature cannot have any part with these defiling things.
This is the separation which Christ requires and which He gives. There is
no merit in my staying from the theater if I want to go. There is no value
in my abstaining from the foolish novel or the intoxicating cup, if I am
all the time wishing I could have them. My heart is there, and my soul is
defiled by the desire for evil things. It is not the world that stains us,
but the love of the world. The true Levite is separated from the desire
for earthly things, and even if he could, he would not have the forbidden
pleasures which others prize.