One of the most solemn and sobering events in the Old Testament is when Moses meets the Lord at the burning bush in Exodus three. There are a lot of people in the Old Testament with whom I wish I’d been present during their great moments with the Lord – people like Abraham, David, Elijah, etc. But I confess that I’ve never thought to myself, “I wish I could have been standing next to Moses at the burning bush”. I would have felt so unworthy and so sinful and so intimidated by God’s holiness that I would have just died right there on the spot.

The passage reads as follows, “The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed.  So Moses said, ‘I must turn aside now and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up.’  When the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, ‘Moses, Moses!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’  Then He said, ‘Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground’” (Exodus 3:2-5). The next verse says that Moses “hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God”.

When I was growing up I thought God was safely stationed in the ornate church cathedral; consequently,  how I lived my life on the rest of the earth’s surface was my business. People like keeping God in a box – it’s easier to live footloose and fancy free. After I became a Christian I learned from the bible that God is everywhere – He is omnipresent. Then, when I added God’s holiness into the equation, I became much more sensitive to the way I lived wherever I was located.

As we go into our daily activities let’s be sensitive to the biblical fact that God is present everywhere we go. We are always walking on holy ground. As we go to the store, to work, or just stay at home – know that we are standing on holy ground. The apostle Peter tells us to be holy because God is holy (I Peter 1:16)

Read Isaiah 6:1-8; I Corinthians 6:19-20 and listen to Holy Ground. Then be extra sensitive to God’s holy presence as go throughout the day. Lastly, thank God that the sinless Lamb of God keeps us holy as we walk by faith (Hebrews 4:14-16).

Isaiah 6:1-8

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another:

At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”

Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.