“Joshua told the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.’” Joshua 3:5 (NIV)
I was stunned the other day by a verse I read in Exodus. I was reading the story of Moses and the burning bush – a story I’ve heard countless times! And yet, this time, a small, unassuming detail really stood out to me. Here are the verses:
“When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.” “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” (Exodus 3:4-5).
It blew my mind that God told Moses to remove his sandals and be barefoot on holy ground! I would have thought that God might have said the opposite. He could have said something like; ‘It’s holy ground, don’t touch it,’ or like a grumpy man telling kids to get off his lawn, He might have said ‘Get off My holy ground,’ or even “Moses, your flip flops are dirty, get off My clean, holy ground.” Honestly, the list of things God could have said is so long! And God would have been justified in saying any of these options.
But instead, God does the opposite. God asks him to ditch the flip flops! Essentially, God tells Moses to remove the only layer separating him from holy ground. God invites Moses to touch the holy ground directly, without anything standing between him and it. How amazing!
‘Holiness’ is often a mysterious topic we rarely discuss. And yet, God invites us to share in His holiness! God Himself said, “I am the Lord, who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy because I am holy.” Lev 11:45(NIV). In the case of Moses, he was asked to remove something that stood between him and holiness – his sandals. Moses was invited to stand barefoot (with presumably dirty feet) on holy ground.
In the Old Testament, encountering holiness is typically connected to offering sacrifices. Sacrifices were necessary to cleanse us enough to encounter holiness, and they removed the sins (or, in Moses’ case, the flip flops) that stood between them and God. But in the New Testament, it’s often the opposite – encountering holiness leads us to freely offer sacrifices. We see these examples in Mark:
“While Jesus was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of costly perfume made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head. Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly. “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me.” (Mark14:3-6). I love the phrase that says she broke something expensive to pour it out for Him.
It can be a hard sacrifice to break what is expensive in our eyes to pour it out as a fragrant offering. We might even rationalize withholding this sacrifice by saying we could make better use of this valuable thing elsewhere, like use it to help others… But as King David once said: “I will not offer burnt offering to the Lord my God that cost me nothing.” (2 Samuel 24:24). It makes me wonder: would I be willing to break what is expensive in my own eyes and pour it out as a sacrifice to Him? Or would I decide to be like the rich young ruler who “walked away sad because [I] have great wealth”? (Matt 19:22).
Heavenly Father,
Forgive us when we are so reluctant to break what is expensive in our own eyes. Forgive us when we hold back from pouring out what You are so worthy of receiving. Forgive us when we offer sacrifices that cost us nothing. Forgive us when, like the rich young ruler, we’d rather walk away than surrender everything. God, please help us to take off our sandals and remove whatever You’re calling us to remove so we can stand on holy ground. Teach us how to be holy as You are holy. God, please make us a people who are eager to pursue You, a people who hunger for holiness and are willing to sacrifice what is expansive because we know Your value far outweighs it all. In Jesus’ name, we pray, amen!
