Holy

A lot of things come to mind when we think of God. We will see God through the lens of our situation. If we grow up with an absent father we may view God as absent from our lives. If God has come through for us in the past we will begin to see God as a Rescuer. The Bible has many terms that describe who God is. I have already covered a few of these (Creator, Judge, Faithful, and Jesus). But there is one term in which all the others are tied back to. Holy! God is holy. The word holy primarily means to be set apart or utterly unique, specifically belonging to or connected with God. It describes something that is sacred, pure, and dedicated to a high, religious purpose, far removed from common or ordinary use. It possesses absolute moral perfection, freedom from sin, and spiritual spotlessness.

In Exodus chapter 3 we find Moses in the desert tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, when he sees a burning bush that doesn’t appear to be consumed by the fire. Moses moves in to examine the bush, and encounters God. As he moves closer God tells Moses “Do not come any closer,” “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” (Exodus 3:5). God’s presence made the ground holy. Out of God’s holiness comes everything else. God is good because of His holiness. God is Judge because of His holiness. God is faithful because of His holiness. God is pure, He is perfect in all He is and does. Contrary to some worldviews, we cannot be God. Yes, we are to become like Jesus, but this doesn’t mean we will be Jesus. God is perfect, we are not.

One thing we see in this verse is that the ground Moses is standing on is holy. This has nothing to do with the ground, and it definitely has nothing to do with Moses. The ground is holy because of the presence of God. God tells Moses to remove his sandals because he was on holy ground. The removal of sandals was an act of respect. Moses, out of respect for God, removed his sandals. There are times when we show disrespect toward God. However, our holy God deserves respect. God is holy and everything flows out of His holiness. A holy God is perfect, pure, and far from ordinary. So when we see God through His holiness, we see Him as a perfect Judge, a perfect creator. I want to leave you with this about God’s love for us. God’s love is perfect. It cannot be any other way. Our perfect God loves us perfectly. He will always love with a perfect love.