Holy Ground

Centuries ago when God called Moses while he

was tending his father-in-law’s flock, the divine

instructions were, “Take your sandals off your feet,

for the place where you stand is holy ground” (Ex.

3:5). In connection with this passage, James

Burton Coffman said, “The holiness of that location

was not due to the location there of some ancient

shrine. If so, Moses would already have known all

about it; he lived in the vicinity for forty years. It

was God’s presence only that endowed the vicinity

with holiness and required Moses to take off his

shoes” (Commentary on Exodus, p. 28).

By way of application, when we come together for

worship we are on “holy ground.” Granted, the

church building is not holy, but we like Moses are

in the presence of a holy God. Therefore, since we

are in the presence of a holy God, it only stands to

reason that we maintain a spirit of reverence. The

ancient Psalmist said, “God is greatly to be feared

in the assembly of the saints, and to be held in

reverence by all those around Him” (Ps. 89:7).

Since our worship is to be accompanied by

reverence, we must take every precaution to avoid

behavior that trivializes the assembly. Needless

chatter, texting, playing with small children, going

to the bathroom and water fountain countless

times diminishes the reverence that is to be

present in the worship assembly. This kind of

thoughtless behavior hinders the dignity of

corporate worship.

Let us resolve to enter worship with the decorum

that befits the King whose throne is in heaven (Ps.

103:19), but whose presence is in our assembly.