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I am using readings from the 49 Week Bible Challenge as the basis for these devotions. I encourage you to join me in this discipline. Today’s readings are Acts 7:30-43; Amos 5; Exodus 11; Leviticus 27.
Acts 7:30-34
[Stephen is speaking] “Now when forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush. 31 When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight, and as he drew near to look, there came the voice of the Lord: 32 ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob.’ And Moses trembled and did not dare to look. 33 Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. 34 I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt.’
I took a speech class in college and recall one of my classmates telling a joke as part of an assignment to deliver an entertaining speech:
Moses was walking through the desert when he saw a bush on fire but not burning up. As he stepped closer, a voice boomed, “Take off your sandals, for the ground is holy!”
Moses bent down, untied his sandals, and approached the burning bush, but the hot sand scorched his feet. He jumped and yelped, and the voice chuckled: “Ha! Third one I got today!”
I tell it only because it illustrates that the sense of holiness is very much caricatured by the world. There is no fear of God in the world. Holy ground is too easily dismissed or ridiculed. The closest we get is the ground at a cemetary, at the 9/11 memorial (I am writing this on 9/11), or in a place of great tragedy, like Utah Valley University where Charlie Kirk was recently shot.
But Holy Ground is the place of God’s presence and sacred work. It is where God touches hearts deeply with profound and significant impact. Certainly that would be true of Moses’ encounter with God as Stephen recounts in Acts 7.
This reminds me that God is truly holy, majestic, and glorious beyond compare. Outward acts of worship, humility before him, and reverent fear is beyond proper. In fact, it is unavoidable. When we encounter God in the fullest sense, we will discover this for ourselves.
But there is more to this encounter with God – and the experience of holy ground – than fear, reverence, and humility. Consider what God is doing here. He is setting things up for his grand Old Testament deliverance event. He will send Moses to tell Pharaoh, “Let my people go!” There will be many words, experiences, and plagues along the way to this deliverance. And this encounter between Moses and God in the burning bush is the beginning of all this.
Have you encountered the depth of God’s grace and truth? Have you experienced the reality of your desperate need for forgiveness? Have you seen someone brought back from the brink of death – spiritual or physical? Have you heard God’s voice calling you to a deeper fellowship? Have you experienced the touch of God’s grace at the altar rail? Have you seen it at the baptismal font?
Those are holy ground moments. And although it is quite proper to respond to holy ground moments with shoes off and eyes shaded, it is important to realize that God’s desire is to bring us beyond mere fear, to love and trust in him.
David Bahn - Reflections 
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