Holy Ground

"Then He said, 'Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.' Exodus 3:5

As we are entering the Christmas season, there is much talk about focusing on the real meaning of Christmas. I had a moment last night though where I practically screamed - "I can't focus on the real meaning of Christmas because people won't shut up long enough for me to think!" (And no, I'm not talking about TV commercials, Christmas specials and endless parties, - I can tune all of that out easily enough - I'm talking about pastors, church leaders, and well-meaning religious people.) It would appear, that in all our admonishing and preaching to others about not forgetting Jesus, we have forgotten Jesus. The Word is being upstaged by our endless parade of words.

If I may have a confession moment...I was so frustrated at church yesterday. It seemed as if we had to fill every moment with something. Oh, the music was good (I do love Christmas music), and the pastor preached a Christmas message. Both before and after service everyone was milling around talking about the snow (all 1/8 of an inch of it - blizzard conditions!!), the cute sweaters and Christmas jewelry everyone had on, and where to go for lunch. All of this, in and of itself was not bad. We do go to church to fellowship with people, be encouraged, and yes, (in spite of my Baptist upbringing) have a good time! But sometimes, there is an event so big, so wonderful, I just feel we need to be silent. Be silent and sit in God's presence, listening for His voice or simply experiencing His peace and the wonder of it all. Last week, my dad preached a sermon on Zacharias (Luke 1). The part that struck me about his story was the fact that he was silent (albeit, enforced) for nine months. Did you ever wonder what he learned during that time? Can you imagine what we might learn if we were silent for a while? (Forget nine months - let's try nine minutes!)

The verse from Exodus quoted above, came to me last night. I thought about how we totally disregard the holiness of God, especially when we enter a church service. Announcements, technical difficulties, welcoming the visitors, all of it...does God really care? Or would he rather us approach Him with the reverence He is due?

My prayer for you this Christmas is that you will have "holy moments" throughout the season. Silent, quiet, calm moments to simply sit in God's presence and reflect on the magnitude of
John 1:14: "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father , full of grace and truth."

What would happen if we read this verse and simply sat in holy silence and invited God to show up?