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.”

Moses came to Horeb as a shepherd, tending sheep in an ordinary wilderness. There was nothing outwardly remarkable about the soil beneath his feet or the barren landscape around him. Yet, when God revealed Himself in the burning bush, everything changed. The ground was holy because of God’s presence. 

The words, “Draw not nigh hither”, teach a precious lesson about reverence for God: man must approach with holy awe, humility, and submission, never casually. Sinful man does not stroll into divine glory; he is summoned and instructed. 

The command to remove the shoes is an outward sign of inward abasement or humility; such external acts have value only as they express heart-reverence—acknowledging unworthiness and laying aside earthly defilement before the God who is a consuming fire.

And yet, the same God who says “draw not nigh” also draws near in covenant mercy. He reveals Himself not to destroy Moses, but to send him to do His will.

Let us ask ourselves whether we have lost this sense of holy ground. When we gather to worship, do we recognise that we are there not for entertainment, but to meet with the living and holy God—to hear His Word, to bow before His majesty, and to offer Him reverent praise from humbled hearts? Do we recognise that times of prayer are not casual speech? Hearing the preaching of His Word is not like listening to ordinary speech or a lecture. Wherever God speaks through His Word and Spirit, we stand on holy ground.

Yet the One who commands reverence also provides a gracious way of access through Jesus Christ to come to Him boldly (Hebrews 4:16). Therefore, let us approach with humility, repentance, and awe, removing the “shoes” of pride, self-sufficiency and defilement, knowing that our God is holy.