Barefoot and Holy

It was a strange sight. The young pastor from our church stood barefoot in front of the congregation preaching his sermon. For some of the congregation this was deemed “unacceptable” but others, like myself, loved it, because there was great meaning behind it.

Was this an act of irreverence?

No, our pastor stood shoeless because he believed he was on “holy ground” when delivering messages.

Powerful.

It all started with Moses’ first close encounter with an all holy God. Moses, who had been on the run for forty years, was settled down in his sheepherding job, when he witnessed a bush consumed with flames. As he drew closer to check it out, God called out to him from the bush saying, “Moses! Moses!” Do not come closer. Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you stand is holy ground” (Exodus 3:4-5).

I wondered, is there still holy ground today?

My American College Dictionary says, “Holy refers to the divine, that which has its sanctity directly from God or is connected with Him.”

Aren’t we, through the gift of the Holy Spirit, all connected to God now?

So could that mean everywhere we walk is “holy ground?”

It should be what we strive for.

Hebrews 12:14 says, “Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.” When speaking about the end of this world as we know it, Peter encouraged us to “live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.”

The Word is saying we have the capacity to be holy.

Peter also reminds us of a Levitical command from God saying, “You are to be holy to me because I, the LORD, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own.” If we are Gentile Christians, we have been grafted into this special family, belonging to God.

So to remind myself I am always on holy ground, I have a tile displayed in our family room.

One day, it was knocked over and the top corner broke. I was devastated, but in an effort to save it, I glued it back together, and thought it was even more symbolic. While it is my heart’s desire to “be holy as God is holy,” I am imperfect, and often fail in this pursuit.

So if you want to daily walk on holy ground, you don’t have to go barefoot. Ask the Lord for his help to do so through the power of the Holy Spirit. I must first warn you, achieving this can be painful because God, who is a refining fire, will begin to do his work on you. “See I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you through the furnace of affliction.” (Isaiah 48:10),

My periods of greatest spiritual growth are a result of my greatest trials. What about you? But even though those periods of my life were difficult, I would not trade out what I learned spiritually for a trouble-free existence. If there were no trials, I would not have been open to the saving grace of Jesus Christ, and there would be no Pearls of Promise ministry.

So today, I’ll end with encouragement from the Apostle Paul concerning holiness:

“May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones” (1 Thessalonians 3:13).