"Moses! Moses!"
"Here I am."
Standing in the presence of God, Moses took of his shoes. This was holy ground.
As I stood barefoot in the grass on campus, one of many students worshipping an unfailing Father, I was reminded of this story. The presence of God was so heavy around us. I was overwhelmed by the fact that if we could feel Him in that small section of the ATU campus, He could be felt on the entire campus. No doubt, all of campus could hear the shouts of "Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, our God reigns!" Over, and over, and over again.
The story of Moses before the burning bush makes me question: When did we become so comfortable in the presence of God that we forgot to be reverent? Yes, God is our friend. Yes, God is our Father. Yes, God wants us to feel comfortable speaking with Him... But He's still God. "Who among the gods is like You, O Lord? Who is like You-- majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?" (Exodus 15:11). He's incomparable, unmatched, holy, and to be revered. Just because He's our friend doesn't mean He's our equal.
No, I don't think we always have to take our shoes off to worship. I don't think we have to pray, "O Thy Thine Doest what Thou Dost." But I do think God expects (and demands) our very best. I do think He expects to be respected and revered. I know that He is God, not our "bestie for the restie" (although He is, but you know what I mean). He deserves our very best, not our mediocre-"I don't like this song, but I'll worship anyway"-kind of worship. He deserves our ALL, no matter what we're feeling, no matter the circumstance... No matter. He expects the attitude, "Here I am," and He expects us to strip off whatever separates us from His holy ground- and His holiness in general. Whether that's our shoes, our relationships, our attitudes... Take it off. Leave it behind. Strip down out of reverence for His holiness and majesty, and say, "Here I am."
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