As far back as I can remember, every Sunday morning Betty and I have played sacred music to prepare us for whatever the day will bring to us either through worship at church, or meeting and visiting with friends or our family. We also watch and enjoy the TV show Songs of Praise on the ABC that brings us sacred music and messages of hope. On Sunday mornings, we escape from the troubles of this world for the day and try and concentrate on holier things.

I recall one Sunday morning in July this year we woke up to 0˚C temperature. I had risen earlier and turned the air conditioning on to warm the house. We were sitting having breakfast, and I was enjoying our bush views and watching the colourful lorikeets at the bird feeder and breathing in the peace and quiet of the morning. Suddenly the song “Holy Ground” written by Geron Davis started to play. You may have heard the words that are quite simple but very meaningful:

“We are standing on holy ground, and I know that there are angels all around.
Let us praise Jesus now.
We are standing in His presence on holy ground.”

I was overcome with the Spirit as I pondered over the meaning of these words and their implications for my life.

The words of this song were derived from the scripture in Exodus 3:2-5 telling of an angel of the Lord appearing to Moses in flames of fire within a bush, but the fire was not burning the bush. So Moses thought he would go over and see why the bush was not being consumed by the flames. But as Moses approached the bush, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And Moses answered, “Here I am.” Then God told Moses “Do not come any closer, take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”

The questions that arose in my mind as I thought on these words were, “Am I standing on holy ground all the time?” And, “When am I standing on holy ground?” And further, “Do I create holy ground and stand upon it when I am giving ministry to people?” The simplest meaning of the word “ministry” is a person who attends to the needs of others. This means every one of us! When do you sense you are standing on holy ground?

The imagery of Moses being told to take off his sandals while standing on holy ground impacted my thoughts. When I am called to give ministry, I should be shedding from my being and thoughts the negativity that may be within my soul. I should not have bad feelings towards someone, have jealousy, or have the thought of being better than someone else. And unfortunately, there is so much negativity around that can overtake our lives and render us quite useless for bringing caring ministry to others.

Paul in his letter to the Church in Corinth spells out some of the impediments that may be in our lives preventing us from giving caring ministry. He lists them as: “…quarrelling, jealousy, anger, selfishness, slander, gossip, conceit and disorder” (2 Cor. 12:20). These negative attitudes as well as others, should be replaced with humility, love and respect for whomever we are associating with or caring for.

When do you sense you are walking on holy ground? May we become more aware of God’s presence in our lives and be continually walking on holy ground.

Bill Gillard