When I was a child, I learned a valuable lesson, one that has stayed with me and one that proves the most important truth the world needs to hear.
There are two types of people:
Those….Who Believe….Who Know God As Father….Who Have Accepted Jesus As LORD….Who Have God’s Holy Spirit Living Inside Them–the sinners saved by God’s grace.
&
Those….Who Do NOT Believe….Who Do NOT Know God….Who Have NOT Accepted Jesus As LORD….Who Do NOT Have God’s Holy Spirit Alive Inside Them–the sinners who yet remain lost.
YES.  That’s It…..Only Two distinct people groups.
YES…..There is but Just One solitary difference.  The ONLY Separation!!!

Age….Race….Ethnicity….Socio-Economic Wealth….Education Received….Family Make-Up….or…..Where We Call Home…………
NOTHING SEPARATES PEOPLE….THE ONLY SEPARATION IS…..

OUR BELIEF IN GOD….&

OUR ACCEPTANCE of GOD’S SALVATION….&

OUR CHOICE TO FOLLOW THE LORD.

When someone LACKS BELIEF & LACKS TRUST IN GOD & HAS NOT YET ACCEPTED GOD‘S SALVATION, then that is truly…..THE ONLY SEPARATION!!!!

To help us better understand this TRUTH, to better see how we can feel so separated in this world, allow me to tell a childhood story, one that placed me totally ostracized from an entire group of people.
When I was a child, I had a good friend, a steadfast friend.  One particular day, she invited me to attend her church service with her.  So I prepared myself, much as I dressed each week when I attended my church with my family.
I first found a pretty dress hanging in my closet, but noticed how it left my neckline bare, so I pulled out a necklace to wear.
Then I found some cute earrings because I had just gotten my ears pierced, and I was so proud how “mature” those earrings made me look.
Next, I always loved bracelets, so I found a couple of dangly ones to slip onto my wrists.
Lastly, I slipped on some open-toed sandals to wear.
So pretty (mom even agreed).
So ready to go with her family to their church service, and I felt as if I was dressed appropriately….UNTIL….I SAW the difference with my own eyes.
Now, as I said, I was a kid (11 years old), so on the ride, I did not notice any difference in our “church” attire when I had first climbed in their vehicle.  In fact, as I said, I did not notice my “DIFFERENCE” until I SAW WITH MY OWN EYES.
We climbed out of their family car and walked to the side door.  When we stepped into the vestibule (the entry foyer), I immediately SAW the separation, I SAW how I was NOT dressed as they were dressed. I SAW how I did NOT look as they looked. When we stepped through the church door, females immediately went to the left side, and males moved to the right……and EVEN THOUGH I MOVED WITH THE GIRLS, STILL I FELT AS IF I NEEDED A SEPARATE PLACE, a room for those dressed different from the group.

From that moment, we (the boys and girls) moved in separation.
No conversation.
No touching.
No walking together. 
No nothing….Only Separation. 

We then stepped up the staircase, leaving the entryway and moving into the sanctuary, and again…
Immediately, I knew I was different.
Immediately, I felt the looks, the stares, the separation.
Immediately….I FELT AS IF I NEEDED A SEPARATE PLACE (for ME, the one dressed diifferently). 

We girls walked to the left side of the sanctuary, and I think I could actually HEAR my earrings, my necklace, and my bracelets jingling as I walked to my seat.
We walked in silence to our place located away from the boys and the men.  We did NOT even look at them.
The men and boys sat together on the right side, and the middle aisle separated us.

BUT (STILL) I FELT ALONE, AS IF I NEEDED A SEPARATE PLACE TO SIT.

I never felt more out of place in my life, than I did that day….because….
Even though we were separated by gender….&
Even though we may have been separated by socio-economic differences….&
Even though we were sitting on separate sides of the church….
MOSTLY, I FELT SEPARATED BECAUSE I WAS NOT DRESSED AS THEY WERE DRESSED!!!
I was the one who stood out….I was the one who was separated from the rest.  
They wore zero pieces of jewelry, they had high necklines, and they covered their heads with small head pieces; thus,

I never felt more out of place in my life, than I did that day….because….
Even though we were separated by gender….&
Even though we may have been separated by socio-economic differences….&
Even though we were sitting on separate sides of the church….
MOSTLY, I FELT SEPARATED BECAUSE I WAS NOT DRESSED AS THEY WERE DRESSED!!!
I was the one who stood out….I was the one who was separated from the rest.  
They wore zero pieces of jewelry, they had high necklines, and they covered their heads with small head pieces; thus, I I still felt different, I looked different, and I was different (from them).

That day, when the service was finally over, I road the short distance back to my home, fully conspicuous, fully aware of the differences I SAW that day.  Truly, it was a pretty silent car-ride home.

Over the years (as I reflect back), I have come to the realization, the TRUTH, and the lesson I learned, and the TRUTH really had nothing to do with the clothing and jewelry we wore or did not wear..
While it was True, we were separated that day by the way we chose our seat.
While it was also True, we were separated by gender.
And while it may have also been True that we were probably separated by wealth.

It was Definitely True, We were separated.

There is a passage in the Bible, one that speaks of the Israelites after the LORD had led them out of captivity, after their exodus from Egypt, and after their crossing of the Red Sea…..that was when the people of God learned a valuable TRUTH, one of Belief and Trust and Faith.

“Then we set out from Horeb, and went through all the great and terrible wilderness which you saw on the way to the hill country of the Amorites, just as the LORD our God had commanded us; and we came to Kadesh-barnea….

Yet you were not willing to go up, but rebelled against the command of the LORD your God;…

Then I said to you, “Do not be shocked, nor fear them [the Ammonites].
The LORD your God who goes before you will Himself fight on your behalf, just as He did for you in Egypt before your eyes, and in the wilderness where you saw how the LORD your God carried you, just as a man carries his son, in all the way which you have walked until you came to this place.”
“But for all this, you did not trust the LORD your God, who goes before you on your way, to seek out a place for you to encamp, in fire by night and cloud by day, to show you the way in which you should go.”

(Deuteronomy 1:19–33)

There are ONLY two types of people…..Those who SEE the LORD and Those who Refuse to SEE and Trust God at His Word.

Two distinct groups & they have nothing to do with our wealth OR our race OR even with the way we dress.

The ONLY Separation!!!
Those who Believe & Trust  &  Accept God’s Salvation, that which has been Provided through the Only Way—Jesus Christ as Savior–the sinners saved by God’s grace.
&
Those who Do Not Believe, Nor Trust, Nor Accept God’s Salvation, that which has been Provided through the Only Way—Jesus Christ as Savior–the sinners who yet remain lost.
Nothing else separates us.
Nothing Else Determines Our Eternity. 
Who we Believe, Who We Trust, Who We Accept, Who We Confess, & Who We Choose As Our Eternal Destination….Nothing Else Matters!!!