Holy Ground

 

And He said, “Draw not nigh
hither: put off thy shoes from
off thy feet, for the place
whereon thou standest is
holy ground.”

Exodus 3:5

I have always been fascinated in the books of Genesis and Exodus with the response of men to whom God spoke and their reactions. These were men, who for the most part didn't know the God you and I know. God appeared to Abram and right out of the shoot told Abram to move from the place he was living to a land he knew nothing about. Imagine that conversation with Sarai:

Abram: “Sarai, we're moving.”

Sarai: “Where to?”

Abram: “Don't know the place.”

Sarai: “Who told you we were moving?”

Abram: “God.”

Sarai: “Who's God?”

Abram: “Don't know Him very well.”

The conversation could have gone on and on. I'm judging a lot from what some of my reactions have been when Brian has come home to tell me that we were moving. You can't imagine my questions even with full information. In Abram & Sarai's day, doing a lot of moving to some other country wasn't the usual. Abram's response to God, however, was one of obedience. As he stood in God's presence, there was an immediate respect and positive response.

What about Noah? He didn't know God either. The future existence of the human race was to rest on his shoulders if he obeyed the voice of God. The comical thing to me with Noah is that he didn't know what an ark (boat) was. He didn't even know what rain was. At that time the earth was still watered by a mist. He didn't know about any waters in the deep that could erupt to the surface of the earth. Think what it took Noah to obey God and then to try to explain it all to his family. Worse yet was doing the job with everyone around him laughing and making fun of him.

Moses, too, had a major encounter with God. He stood before a burning bush, one that wasn't consumed and from it, we read how God spoke to Him. He too was asked to do something major for God that was going to take a great deal of faith like Abram and Noah. What I find interesting is what God said to Moses that is our opening verse. Moses was out shepherding that was his regular job. He was out minding his own business when something very dynamic happened. God appeared to Moses...the great I AM appeared to Moses with a really big charge that was to take place in his life. A bush that was burning drew Moses' attention and then God spoke from the bush.

Moses was told three things by God in the beginning of a lengthy conversation:

“Draw not nigh hither”...Moses could have been burned or even died because of the fire, but being in that much of God's presence could have also caused some serious physical problems. Don't know on this one all of the why's and wherefore's.

“Take off thy shoes from off thy feet,..” Of course in that day, sandals were worn but to remove ones shoes under these circumstances was an indication of respect toward one who was considered to be a superior. It was also a thing of trust. Sandals were important to one like Moses who was working out on rocky, and often treacherous ground. Adults kept sandals on their feet for protection. However, it must be noted that slaves of that day went barefoot that indicated their own personal relationship of respect and obeisance toward their owners.

“For the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.”... This is the most important part of the verse that fascinates me. What made the ground where Moses was standing “holy ground?” I believe it was because he was in the very presence of God, and it was where He chose to meet with and speak with Moses. With that being the case, I believe Abram and Noah stood on that same kind of ground minus the burning bush. What did those three men have in common? All three of them had a personal encounter with God Himself. All three were called upon by God to do some things that would change their world. All three responded in positive ways to God's bidding.

When was the last time we felt like we stood on holy ground...yes, we born again people? I will venture to say that we should look forward to times on holy ground for it is exactly that when God speaks to us in such a meaningful way that we feel we have been with everything holy. Do we anticipate when walking into our churches on Sundays that we are about to stand on holy ground, feeling that God is about to speak to us. What about when we read our Bibles and the Holy Spirit speaks so clearly into our minds and hearts? Do we feel like taking our shoes off because of being in the presence of God's holiness.

I am the one who types the church bulletin for our church. Someone asked me the other day why I don't put cartoons or humorous things in the bulletin instead of Scripture verses and meaningful quotations. I told her that it's because when entering the church, there's nothing funny going on as far as I'm concerned. We need to be preparing for walking on holy ground. We are so into spiritual entertainment that we want to get lots of laughs and fun stuff at church. What a horrible way to treat God. He wants to speak and we want to laugh and joke...there goes the holy ground. I'm not saying we can't smile, be pleasant and even laugh. However, we mustn't loose sight of the importance of that holy ground that makes up our spiritual hearts where God wants to speak and us respond.

We don't have to back away from Him or even remove our shoes. God wants to speak and wants us to regard those times as meaningful and yes, holy. May the words to a familiar song always be meaningful as we think of our relationship with our Father.

We are standing on holy ground,
And I know that there are angels all around.
Let us praise Jesus now,
We are standing in His presence on holy ground.

May we ever long for those precious times on holy ground. It is there we come to know God's heart for us as well as His plan for us. It's where our relationship deepens with Him and we feel His love for us in the most meaningful of ways. So, wherever we meet Him with sincerity of heart, there we are in His presence on holy ground.

Dear Father...I so often take for granted that You want to meet with me regularly and want to be a part of my life like no one else. Help me, Father, and grant me more of a longing for “holy ground” times in my life. I love you...In Jesus precious name...Amen