Day 5 with Moses: The Holy Lord must be approached with no “residue,” in an attitude of …

“Then He said, “Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.” Moreover He said, “I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God.”

‭‭Exodus‬ ‭3:5-6‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

When I was growing up the first thing I did when I got home was to take off my shoes. I just wasn’t home unless those shoes were off. For me, it was a matter of comfort as my feet have always been difficult to fit in shoes. Now that I have gotten older I tend to wear my shoes all day long, needing the support for my feet. But, oh how I miss the freedom of bare feet in my home.

As you are aware, shoes have now become a fashion statement, even a status “signal,” so much more than just something to protect our feet. But indeed, the original utility and function of shoes was to protect feet from injury and enable one to traverse distances much more quickly and easily. Interestingly, wars have been lost over the fact that the soldiers had no boots. Indeed, our own War of Independence was nearly lost as many of the soldiers, without boots, became very easily tracked from the bloody prints their bare feet left on the snowy terrain.

Yes, shoes are important. Proper spiritual footwear is even described in terms of spiritual preparedness:

“Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;”

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭6:14-17‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

We can see that the practical use for shoes is that of defense. But, there’s also another aspect about shoes that we must bear in mind. The soles of your shoes carry remnants of everywhere you have walked. Sometimes we see that illustrated as big muddy boots; other times it’s just a thin coat of dust from where we have walked.

Jesus, in instructing His disciples on how to deal with places that did not receive them, gave them this instruction:

“And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭10:14‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Now with our refreshed knowledge of the utility of shoes, along with the fact that they track where we’ve been into where we’re going, let us look to see what Moses is doing.

Yesterday we saw the Lord calling to Moses from the burning bush with Moses responding. Today we see the Lord instructing Moses to remove his shoes, as he is standing on holy ground.

We must first acknowledge that wherever the presence of the Lord is found, that is holy ground. Now, just think about that for a second in terms of the fact that we are told that we are the temple of God!

Yes, where the Lord is becomes holy ground. But why did Moses need to remove his shoes? We must take into account what we have discussed about the function of shoes. Moses was to remove his shoes, and with them, the residue of where he had walked before this moment. He is now standing in the presence of God Who will instruct him as to where he is to go from here.

Additionally, Moses has no need to be able to flee from the Lord, rightly illustrating that fact by not being prepared to run (being shoeless).

Through just that simple command to Moses from the Lord to remove his shoes, the Lord tells volumes about how we are to approach Him and with what attitude we may expect to receive from Him.

For today let us discover what Moses discovered:

The Lord must be approached with no “residue,” in an attitude of vulnerability and respect.

#40dayswithmoses