Standing On Holy Ground

One day Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock far into the wilderness and came to Sinai, the mountain of God. There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from the middle of a bush. Moses stared in amazement. Though the bush was engulfed in flames, it didn’t burn up. “This is amazing,” Moses said to himself. “Why isn’t that bush burning up? I must go see it.” When the LORD saw Moses coming to take a closer look, God called to him from the middle of the bush, “Moses! Moses!” “Here I am!” Moses replied. “Do not come any closer,” the LORD warned. “Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground. I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” When Moses heard this, he covered his face because he was afraid to look at God. [Exodus 3.1-6] 

In this 'age of grace,' is the place we meet with God any less holy than it was when Moses encountered God at Sinai?

The correct answer to the question above would be "no." God has never changed and never will.

The focus of this article is not 'where' we meet God, but instead, 'how' we meet God - how we act in His presence. If the ground where Moses met with God was holy, then the place we meet with God is holy.

While Jesus makes us 'worthy' to stand before God anytime and any place, our worthiness is no license to be irreverent. It seems however that Christianity has lost this standard.

Reverence is humility. Reverence displaces pride. Reverence is not an act of convenience, but of intention. Reverence is repentant. Reverence is a display of faith. Reverence is not religion but a way of life.

Perhaps the reason today so few 'hear God speak' is because of irreverence. People are too proud, too busy, too knowledgeable, too self-centered, too carnal and too preoccupied to 'hear God' wherever it is He speaks to them.

Frankly, for those consoling themselves right now that Jesus made us fully presentable to God at any time and any place, I challenge them to understand that Jesus is a life lived by a genuine believer, not a passport stamp. If we ourselves and the people around us do not see Jesus in and on our lives, then God is not seeing Jesus in and on our lives. If God is not seeing Jesus in and on our lives, any attempt for us to approach God is nothing short of damning.

Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get away from me, Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.” Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? For the Son of Man will come with his angels in the glory of his Father and will judge all people according to their deeds. [Matthew 16.23-27]

It is not possible to separate Jesus from holiness. And yet, people want to 'confess Jesus' as if that makes it okay to keep living any way they want to. Remember, Peter got rebuked (above) for merely wanting to keep Jesus from suffering! It sounded like a great idea humanly speaking but Peter was failing to hear 'holiness' speaking!

"In Christ," anywhere a believer stands at any time is holy. The "burning bush" today is the Holy Spirit bringing us into seamless communication with God at all times and in every place as we are in Christ. The Holy Spirit does not dwell where Christ does not live. "In Christ," we not only remove our shoes in our Holy God's presence, but we strip ourselves of everything as Christ hung naked upon the Cross so that we too might be clothed with the full armor of God in Him.

It is a serious thing to be in God's presence. Therefore, it is a serious thing to be "in Christ" and for Christ to be "in us."

Father, burn the truth of what is said here into our hearts as we consider our desire to "hear You speak." May we take every single breath understanding that, as we are in Christ, we are in Your presence ... and that holy place is where You speak to us. So be it.