Where God is present, it is holy ground. Moses, when God met him at the burning bush, was asked to remove his sandals because it was holy ground (Exodus 3:6). It is important to recapture this reverent attitude towards God in our lives today as well.
#1. We need to be always conscious that God is holy.
There is no other in this universe who can have this claim to holiness. Everything about God is centred on this one attribute, nature and character of God—his holiness. His absolute purity is shown in the fact that he lives in unapproachable light (1 Timothy 6:16).
Since God is holy, there is no way any human can approach God and not die; because all have sinned (Romans 3:23). And it is only by the blood of Jesus anyone can approach God and his throne of grace. And there we stand on holy ground.
No one therefore should treat the blood of the Son of God in a light-hearted manner (Hebrews 10:29) as if it is a licence to do wrong and then seek God’s forgiveness. No God is an awesome and holy God rich in mercy though.
#2. Then we have to be always conscious of the presence of God with us.
If we are trusting in Jesus as our Saviour and Lord, God indwells our heart through the Holy Spirit. That means we carry with us the presence of God always.
How much the presence of God radiates through us varies from time to time depending on whether we are walking in holiness and humility before God. The point is that we are always on holy ground unlike times in the Old Testament when God visited his chosen servants on special occasions.
But it is not easy to practice the presence of God always. For most of us like to be holy on Sundays putting on our masks before others; but do whatever we like Monday to Saturday. That attitude will change if we realize we are standing on holy ground wherever we go since God dwells in us.
#3. Finally, no one should try to serve God without having stood on holy ground before God.
Now what happens when we stand on holy ground? We suddenly become conscious of our utter sinfulness and unworthiness before God like how Prophet Isaiah did (Isaiah 6:5). And then he was commissioned by God for service.
Or like Moses we will realize that the task that God wants to get done cannot be achieved by human strength; it can only be done by God’s strength, by his methods and in the time of his choosing. Remember how Moses had tried to rescue his people 40 years ago and was rejected by his own. He was asked then, “Who made you ruler and judge over us?”
But this time the outcome was different. Moses was able to lead 6 lakh (6,00, 000) men, plus women and children out of slavery in Egypt to the promised land. He was enabled to bring such a mass to worship God simply because he stood on holy ground before he set forth on his God-given mission. He was able to defy the mighty Pharaoh because he saw the invisible God (Hebrews 11:27) when he was on holy ground.