Saturday, April 16, 2016

The Holy Ground of Life and Leadership

UV 1728/10000 The Holy Ground of Life and Leadership
Exodus 3 :5 And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.
Exodus 3 v 5
Where the presence of the Lord is, that is “holy ground”. The presence of the Lord is everywhere to which and to whom He is invited and honoured. Hence, all of the earth is holy ground in that sense. No place is “God forsaken”. No person is “God forsaken.” Leadership and positions of authority are holy ground as persons in leadership are appointed, anointed and chosen by the specific knowledge and consent of the Lord. Hence, no one should go rushing into areas of leadership but wait on the Lord to find His will and purpose, obtain His grace and power, wisdom and leading before wearing the mantle of leadership. There should no arrogant display of power. As it is said, “One can have the power of a giant but he should not use it like one.” A leader should be a person who is conscientious and accountable to God and man. He should not take his duties lightly or his privileges for granted. Leadership is meant to serve and not to be served. The more people we serve and the more ways we serve them, the greater is our calling.

The concept of leadership and life itself being “holy ground” should produce a sense of reverence for the Lord in us. That sense of awe and respect for the Lord will in turn engender the wisdom that will keep us from committing wilful blunders or folly. An unwanted thought, an unwanted gesture, an unwanted word could offend the Lord and this uni-verse teaches us to guard against anything that offends the Lord. Moses under the old covenant relationship with the Lord could not draw near to the presence of the Lord but we are called by our names and are expected to draw nearer and nearer to the Lord. A similar ‘holy ground’ experience during the transfiguration of Jesus in the company of Moses and Elijah got Peter all excited and he offered to build three tabernacles for them. All Peter had to do was to offer his life and his body as the tabernacle of the Lord. Our bodies are on holy ground when we offer ourselves as a tabernacle for Lord and the indwelling Holy Spirit takes control of our lives.
“Putting off the shoes” is a metaphor to deal with anything in us and around us that defiles and offends the Lord. We need to put off our worries, our pride, our lusts, our fears as we draw near to the Lord. The shoes are also a symbol of whatever is made by the hands of man including man-made religion and ritual. We cannot come to the Lord on the strength of anything we are or we have done. We can approach His holiness or perfection only by virtue of His grace and mercy. We need to completely focus on the Lord and appreciate the beauty of His holiness, the depth of His love, the extent of His power, grace and mercy. Ultimately and immediately, as we do so, we become the holy ground of the presence of the Lord, the living temples sanctified by Jesus. The transformation is striking : from a position of awe and reverence, of distance and fear we move in our spirits to a position of intimacy and complete identification with the Lord. The Lord then lights not a bush that does not burn down but He lights the fire in our bellies, a passion and zeal to exceed and excel for His glory. By the power of the Holy Spirit we burn brightly but we do not get consumed.

Prateep V Philip

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