Holy Ground. Take your shoes off or ignore it?

I really love my youth ministry class.  And it's all because of this one book that we read.  It's called The Godbearing Life: The art of soul tending for youth ministry. 


We had to read this book and write a report on it.  My original thought was "Oh great, another book I have to read" but as I started it, and my best friend can attest to this, I couldn't stop.  The authors held my attention every time I picked that book up to read.  


But there was one thing that really stood out and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it.  


When Moses was shepherding his father-in-law's sheep, he was at Horeb which is known as the mountain of God.  To Moses, this was a familiar route, one he knew well and had probably been to many times.  But Moses wasn't expecting anything to happen.  But what happened next? 


A bush was on a fire but it wasn't burning.  How long had this bush been burning?  
Was it something that God had done, hoping someone would walk by and see and the first person that did just happened to be Moses?  Or had God been calling Moses and this was the only way to get his attention?


Moses hid his face in fear.  You see, Moses had killed a man in Egypt and was now facing something that God had sent.  He asked God to send someone else.  
God had a greater plan though.  He used a man who had a dark past to carry out His will!  


So how many of us are ignoring God's call?  When we see the "burning bush" will we remove our sandals, knowing we are standing on Holy ground?  We stand before God, naked in the sense that everything we've ever done will be revealed.  When we go to church, are we expectant for what God will do? Or has it become such a routine that you don't realize the Holy Ground you're standing on and just pass through?


I know for me, it's definitely a challenge to keep a routine action like going to church something that is Holy to marvel at.  Oftentimes, I just walk through seeing the same people week after week.  But that's not how it should be and I think it happens more than we care to admit.  


So I want to challenge you to stand "naked" before God. He already knows what you have done, now be open to Him and show it.  And I'll leave you with this quote from the book:


"Remove your sandals! Leave all that behind. I am not out to destroy you; I am out to change you. Take off those smelly shoes- this is holy ground, the place where you leave your old ways behind and start over as the person I made you to be" (Dean & Foster p.77)