"Grocery Store Feet" 4-5-12

Exodus 3:5 And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.

Moses was tending sheep on the backside of the desert when he saw the strangest sight. It was a bush that was on fire, but it wasn't burning up! After God had his attention, He commanded Moses to remove his shoes because he was standing on holy ground. Why was the ground holy? That's easy, it was holy because God was there. What is the significance of removing his shoes? Was God afraid that Moses would get the holy ground dirty? Hardly! By removing his shoes, Moses was giving up his authority in that place. God told the same thing to Joshua several years later, and Joshua removed his shoes, giving up his authority to lead the Israelites into battle. By removing his shoes, Moses was saying "God is here, and He's in charge now". When you think about it, who would argue that where God is, the place is holy, and all authority should be surrendered to Him? In light of this, the New Covenant declares that our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. This astonishing truth reveals that every where we walk is holy ground, and that we should "keep our shoes off", or live under His authority at all times. This is where many people mistakenly believe that the church building is the temple, and others make the mistake of believing that the church building is insignificant. The truth is that when we gather at the church, it's holy ground, and when we gather at the grocery store, it's holy ground too! I saw people walking through the grocery store with bare feet just the other day, but I don't think they read this blog. Lol