To the (Holy) Ground!

I started reading Joshua again the other day in preparation for the upcoming series at ACF. I haven’t gotten very far, about chapter six, but this morning while driving in I started thinking about one of the passages. I re-read it this morning, Chapter 5, verses 13-15.

“And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked and behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him and said unto him, Art thou for us or for our adversaries? And he said, Nay, but [as] prince of the host of Jehovah am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and did worship and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant? And the prince of Jehovah’s host said unto Joshua, Put off thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so.”

This passage is fairly well known, based on the fact that the “prince” allowed Joshua to worship, most people agree that this was Jesus that was meeting Joshua. The first thing that caught my memory this morning is that Joshua went up to him. He didn’t send a couple troops over to investigate; he didn’t wait for the man to come to him. Joshua went to the man with confidence. He was told shortly before this by God that “There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with thee; I will not fail thee or forsake thee.” (Joshua 1:5) With this knowledge, Joshua had the confidence to face anything that came across his path. He knew God was with him and that he had the responsibility to get God’s people to their destination. In the past, I’ve always imagined Joshua in awe of this person, timidly asking if he was for him or against him. This morning, I envisioned a man confident in the promise God made, knowing no matter who or what was in his way God was with him.

This is not the main point of my post today however; the part that I really chewed on all morning was the removing of the shoes on holy ground. In Alaska, as I’m sure it is true in most places, almost everyone takes off their shoes when entering their house or someone else’s house. It is common courtesy; it helps keep the mud and dirt from tracking throughout the house. Some people in fact have an entry way or “mud room” for just this purpose. I started thinking about the church, what most people would consider “holy ground.” I ask you this, is the church really our holy ground? Most current believers would tell you that the church is not a building, but the group of people who gather together for the purpose of worshipping God. As my mind exploded with thought this morning, I was gut punched by God. If I (we) are the church, then that would mean that we are the holy ground. I know a lot of people know that our bodies are a temple, but I want to focus on our minds and souls for today. At least on mine.

I would like to say that I have a “mud room” in my mind. A place where I remove the things that should not be in my holy ground, the problem is, I’m not sure I ever leave that room. Or perhaps worse, my entire house has become over run and there is no way to tell where it ends and the house of the Lord begins. I know this may seem like a simple thing to some, we’re supposed to be good, obviously. I’m just asking everyone that reads this to be honest with themselves, are you respecting the holy ground of God?

I’m pretty sure I’m not.