Remembering He is Holy

5Then He said, "Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground."

13Then Moses said to God, "Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you, and they say to me, 'What is His name?' what shall I say to them?" 14And God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And He said, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'"

(Exodus 3: 5, 13-14)

I don't really know what religion Moses was up to the point when he saw the burning bush. Being nursed by his Hebrew mother, he may have heard of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. However, being raised in the Egyptian court as an adopted son, he may have forgotten God and been taught of the Egyptian dieties.

In this re-introduction to God, it strikes me that the Lord first and foremost wants to emphasize one thing very clearly - He IS God over all - the great Creator who is and from whom everything comes from. Our life force is drawn from the Great I AM, and we do not exist without Him. When I read these passages, the fear of God absolutely crackles off the page and I know if I were Moses, I would not have been more frightened in my life.

Moreover, the place where God exists is holy. Not just sacred, it requires an absolute cleanliness of intent and being. One of the most contentious and difficult parts for us to understand about Heaven is why it would be so elusive to attain. In our minds, everyone who has lived should go to Heaven, but that ignores what Heaven is -

Heaven isn't the gratification of our wants and desires - unending self-aggrandizing joy and fulfillment. Heaven is the place where God dwells in His fullness. Heaven is holy ground through and through. That is why Jesus came. Alone with our sin stained lives, we would not be able to stand before God because His holiness would crush our unclean lives. The holy God and unholy sin cannot co-exist in the same place. The unholy is burned away - killing the one who is unclean. (In Jewish literature priests entering the Holy of Holies who were unclean were stuck dead by God - referenced in the Mishnah).

By the sacrifice of Jesus, the spotless son of God, He took our sins upon himself, so that we could be wiped clean, ready to have eternal life in Heaven. God became approachable when He chose to become a man and He could then seek out sinners and pull them out of their depths. Then, through the Holy Spirit, God personally dwells in us.

"Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are." (I Cor 3:16-17)

As a Christian, it is easy to have a casual relationship with God - it has become popular to refer to Him simply as a friend. I even have a shirt that says, "Jesus is my Homeboy". Yes, the Lord is our friend (and homeboy), but He is God too, and we cannot forget that level of respect that He deserves. In loving us, He sacrificed Himself for us. The God who spoke and Created everything. We must remember that and seek after that kind of holiness in our own lives because we are now a temple of God. God dwells inside of us. We cannot simply disregard the Lord as only a friend when He is deserving of all our worship.

Lord Jesus, I know that I have been guilty of sometimes taking Your love and affection for me for granted. That I often forget You in the ragtag pursuit of everyday life. Please forgive me and help me to worship You in spirit and in truth. Help me to clean out all that is not of You to become ready for more of Your presence. In Jesus' name, AMEN.