“Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” —EXODUS 3:5

Moses was eighty years old when he encountered the burning bush on the Mount of Horeb, also revered by the people as the ‘Mountain of God’. From the burning bush, God called out to him, and he answered, “Here I am.” God then told Moses not to come any closer and makes an unusual request – “Take off your sandals.” What significance is there in Moses removing his shoes? Was it because he stood on holy ground or was it demonstrating something far deeper than a show of reverence?

‘Holy’ means to be set apart for God and God’s strategy in this world is through people who are dependent on Him, trusting of Him and obedient to Him. God said to Moses, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying. I am concerned. I have come down to rescue them. I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. I am sending you to Pharaoh. I will be with you.”

Eight times God talks in the first person. “I am”, “I have”, “I will”. In other words, “Moses, I am going to deliver the Israelites. I have seen. I have felt. I will do. And I am sending you. So, Moses, take off your shoes because it is I, God, who will be responsible. But I am going to do it in your shoes. And every place you set your feet will be holy ground, set apart for Me, because I am in your shoes.”

Moses had several good reasons to be reluctant for the task. He was 80 years old, a failure, a fugitive from Egypt, and had spent the last 40 years herding sheep in the remotest part of the Midian desert. What did he know of freeing and leading in excess of two million people out of the bonds of slavery? He said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh?” He really didn’t want to do it.

But God said, “I will be with you.” What qualified Moses and what qualifies us to be of service to God is the life of God within us. Our own capabilities and strategies are not what God requires. We are invited to be workers with Him, not for Him, and it is the power of God in our shoes that accomplishes the task. “Every place you set your feet will be yours,” God said to Moses. Why? Because God will be in his shoes. The way to serve God effectively is to metaphorically take off our shoes and allow God to fill them.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, strengthen me in trust, obedience and dependence on You so that I may be used to accomplish your will in this world. Thank You, Lord.

TO REFLECT UPON: Am I allowing God to fill my shoes in what He has called me to do?