Take off your sandals

"When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.” “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” - Exodus 3:4-5

This is one of those passages that I have read over and over many times in my life, and brushed it aside as seemingly unimportant. This year though, I learned something. This passage isn't about the holy ground at all, nor is it about sandals. Before this last year, I would have come to take all of this quite literal, and would have been waiting for that one day when God would come to me and say "Take off your shoes, this place is holy ground." Funny thing this God fellow is though.

This last year, some one made it known to me that what was being said here was "Moses, take off the things in your past that hinder you from coming to me, for I have a great work in store for you." Have you ever gone on a hike and at the end of it look at your shoes? They shouldn't come out clean, at least not as clean as when you started your hike. They should be covered in dirt, mud, tree sap, animal droppings, but they tell a story. They tell the story of where you have been. It is the same with walking in the city. Perhaps you will step on a tack, or a piece of gum that will go with you to your next destinations. Again, your shoes will tell you where you have been. This is the same for Moses. What had Moses done up until this point in his life? He was spared at birth, grew up as part of Egyptian royalty (it is debatable to say that he was in line to be one of the Pharaohs, but I'll leave you to do that on your own study. I did), assuming that he was part of the royalty, he would have played a small part in the suffering of his people, he killed a man, tried to cover it up, and then he ran away from all his problems. This was all on his shoes at this point. But was the Lord absent in all of this? By no means! I'll get back to that. So, now we see where Moses was coming from, and God tells Moses where he is going to. God says "I have seen the suffering of my people, and I want you, Moses, to go and lead them to freedom by my hand." And even at that, Moses tries to make excuses as to why he shouldn't go. First he says "I don't know what to say." (Ex 3:13), then he says "Well, what if they won't believe that I am sent by you?" (Ex 4:1), then again, he makes another excuse "Well, I've never been able to speak very well" (Ex 4:10) then he just downright says "send some one else." (Ex 4:13). Moses was holding on to his past in the worst way, and the Bible even says that the Lords anger was burning against Moses (Ex. 4:14). All this time though, the Lord was working in Moses, and training him in the best way. The Hebrew people were slaves in Egypt, and once they were set free, they would have needed some one to lead them in all sorts of ways. Moses was educated to read and write and speak to people and execute justice being in the Egyptian nobility, and after he had fled away from Egypt he gained valuable knowledge of living in the wilderness, shepherding sheep, finding them food and water and searching out for them amongst a harsh landscape. This man Moses would go on to lead the Hebrews to freedom, execute justice on a day to day level, write down the Law of the Lord, deliver this law to the assembly, lead military wars against other peoples, and lead the Israelites around in the wilderness. But before he could do any of that, he had to take off his sandals. He had to get rid of the his past.

This is mirrored in the New Testament by he who would be a voice crying out in the wilderness "Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight!" (Matt 3:3) and "Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Matt 3:2) Aka. John the Baptist. John was saying to a crowd "Stop doing things your way, and start doing things as you would in the Kingdom. I don't care where you are from, you can change." This is also seen in foot washing. Jesus says to his disciples "I'll wash your feet." Peter says "Then wash my head and hands as well" And Jesus replies "The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet." (John 13:1-11) Feel free to disagree with me, but I have come to interpret this as saying they if you are living for and in love with Jesus, then you are already made clean, sanctified, redeemed by the blood of the lamb, bought, paid for. Your sins are forgiven and you are an ambassador, but you need still need to repent from where you have been. Again, John  the baptist says "Bear fruit in keeping with repentance" (Matthew 3:8), and the apostle Paul says "Work on your own salvation in fear and trembling." (Philippians 2:12) as Paul is talking about being the light of Christ in this world. These echo the call of Moses, take off where you have been, and put on the burden of the Lord. "For my yoke is easy. My burden is light." It is said in Isaiah 52:7 "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news.." the feet go from being this ugly past to being something that is completely beautiful! What is the good news? It is the news of Jesus Christ, and what he has done in your life and what he is doing in the world. As we serve God, he is making us beautiful, and separating us from our old selves.

This last week was one of the toughest weeks in my life spiritually. This is probably the only time you'd catch me saying that I was attacked spiritually. My biggest struggle in the past was that I struggled with lust in my heart (being sought out through pornography and masturbation). For many years, it was my master, and I did nothing to get rid of it in my life, but made a petty plea/cry to God blaming him because he had given me these desires, and again a petty plea to take them so that I would stop sinning. That wasn't the issue though. For other years, I did fight for my freedom, and until a little while ago, it was to no avail. I'd try accountability partners, but the four or five people I had asked to help me out all lost interest and after a month or so just stopped caring. This never gave me a bad sense that I couldn't really trust people with how I was feeling, or what was going on in my life because it felt like no one cared. This last year, I studied every book in the bible 5 times over, and it was the best and worst nine months of my life. Best because it was a place where I could just devote myself to studying the word of the Lord, be away from distraction here at home and spend time with some other amazing people who are passionately in love with Jesus Christ. It was the worst nine months though because being nine months away from people you love is a long time, and it just takes a toll on relationships. There is some background for you the reader. How does this all tie in though? Through those nine months, God gave me a focus in life, where he is leading me. Its given me a more focused and driven pursuit for purity and humility. In Ephesian 6:12, Paul writes "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers of darkness in this world, against the spiritual wickedness in this dark place." This word in Greek is the word "Pa/lh" and it is a type of wrestle in which the victor of this fight gets to hold his opponent down by the neck and gouge his eyes out. Learning this made me realize where my focus was, and by what I was having my eyes gouged out. Back to this last week. I was (and still am) free from giving into sexual temptations but this last week, temptation came stronger then I can ever express, and it lead me into a slight depression. But hope is a good thing. When the world comes against you, take heart. "For greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world." (1st john 4:4) and God upheld me in the roughest times. In the end of it all, all God said to me was "Take off your shoes. This time that I have given you is holy, it is precious. Take heart."