Holy Ground

     I love going barefoot. Socks? Despise them and I toss them aside as soon as I walk through the door. I love to go barefoot around the house, spring, summer, winter or fall. The impossibility of going barefoot through months of long Minnesota winters only makes my anticipation and appreciation grow as spring and summer draw near. One day while reading the Bible, I paused at the following Scripture verse.

“Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Exodus 3:5

     Moses was called to meet God. We can only imagine the encounter and what it meant. The ground was holy. No sandals allowed. Imagine my surprise. God asked Moses to be barefoot while in His presence.

     In Old Testament days, only the high priest could enter the Holy of Holies. This was the inner sanctum of the temple. No ordinary folk allowed. It was a sacred place, a reverential place. It contained the presence of God.

     After Christ’s death, burial and resurrection, He gave His followers a foretaste of heaven. He left His disciples (including us) with the gift of His Holy Spirit. Yes, the Spirit of God within us! No more outer temple. The very temple of our God lives within.

     Not only is Christ beside us, around us, and in front of us, His Holy Spirit remains in us.

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. 1 Corinthians 6:19

     Now that the temple of the Lord is within us, everywhere we step can be considered holy ground. Wherever you are right now is Holy ground. Wiggle your toes. Where will you step today? Will it be in God’s creation?

     You may feel the rough terrain of a mountain path or sift through the soft sand of a sunny beach. Let the fertile soil of your backyard garden ooze through your toes. Tap the linoleum of your kitchen floor as you wash the evening dishes. Feel the texture of the carpet as you tuck your kids in bed. Wrap your feet around the rungs of the chair beneath your desk. Feel God’s presence around you. Wherever you stand, walk, sit or dance is indeed Holy ground.

     We are the temple of the Spirit of God. Jesus is with us each day as we visit the magnificent and the minute, the extraordinary and ordinary, the mountaintop view and the laundry room floor, the miraculous and the mundane. What a profound thought. We are His ambassadors as we walk the earth.

     So take off your shoes as you wash, and tuck, and type, as you speak and listen, as you walk through your day.  Maybe you can lead others to see the holiness around them, too.

     And, one day soon, Jesus will walk us from the pull of the earth’s blessed ground to step onto heaven’s eternal garden path. As I meet Him finally, face to face and He asks me to take off my earthly shoes, I will gladly obey and run barefoot with Him forevermore.

Dear Jesus,

Thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit. Let that Spirit grow so strong that wherever we are and whatever we do, we recognize Your power and presence with each step.

Amen