set apart or stand apart

We have learned a new word recently in our study of the Old Testament through the Mini Bible College survey: the word is apostate.  It literally means to "stand away from" something and, in the case of the Hebrews of the Old Testament it referred to them "standing away from" the Lord.  They chose to ignore or disobey the same God who had delivered them miraculously from slavery and who had provided their food and healed their diseases in the desert.  It struck me that there is an interesting contrast with the word "holiness".  Unger's Bible Dictionary defines holiness as being "set apart", specifically to be set apart from all that is sinful or morally imperfect.  The thought occurs that we can have one of two ambitions, once we have come to know the Lord:  We can seek to be "set apart" in our hearts and minds to be aligned with the Lord...or we can "stand apart" from the One who has been faithful and true.  One separates us from our Lord and one binds us closer.  What a privilege we have that, like Moses, we can stand on holy ground.   Isaiah 35:8 A highway shall be there, and a road,       And it shall be called the Highway of Holiness.       The unclean shall not pass over it,       But it shall be for others.       Whoever walks the road, although a fool,       Shall not go astray. blessings, Rob Smith