His Treasured Art
"Take off your sandals, for the place where you stand is holy ground."
Exodus 3:5 | ESV
These were the words spoken by God to Moses at the burning bush. Moses was approaching the bush when God calls out to him and then tells him to remove his sandals. In all the times I have read this scripture I was more drawn to the burning bush than the sandals bit, until now. God doesn’t order Moses to back up and remove himself from holy ground, no He simply tells Moses to remove the man-made article from his feet so his God-given skin may be what graces the God-created hallowed ground. God was demanding reverence while also establishing Moses’ worth by inviting him into a sacred place. And He does the same with you and I to this day…but do we see it? Do we feel it? Or has human comforts and man-made creations covered our feet and blinded our eyes to see the Devine design available to us?
Imperfections in the skin can be covered by makeup.
Greying hair can be colored with more vibrant hues.
The body we criticize can be hidden beneath clothes and shamed by our words.
We can hold the camera at just the right angle... because all of the rest are wrong.
We stand and admire the man-made artwork in a museum and then alter and shame the God-made in us. When we look to the world to determine our worth…then we slip on the sandals God has already declared we don’t need to be worthy in His site. Let me pause to clarify, the purpose of this writing holds no judgement…just as God did not judge Moses for wearing sandals. Moses was only doing what made sense to him, and what the world around him did. But when it came to holy ground invitation, God wanted to remove anything that would get between holiness and Moses.
My mother and I recently went away to the Biltmore mansion in North Carolina for some simple, sweet time away together. As we toured the estate we passed several famous paintings and sketches, all of which were safely guarded and out of arms reach. All of these pieces had been hand selected by the man who once owned the home because he, and the world, thought them beautiful and of great value. Despite cameras being permitted, I took no photos of the artwork. Instead we captured shots of our own reflections in the many mirrors throughout the home…we were having fun…but good truth seeped into the marrow of me.
We are God’s treasured bits of art.
He has crafted us.
He has molded us.
He calls us His “image-bearers” and holds us with greater value than anything this world has to offer.
But now, O Lord, you are our Father;
we are the clay, and you are our potter;
we are all the work of your hand.
Isaiah 64:8 | ESV
Why do we waste time and energy trying to color over, cover up and change the very artwork He has created in us? He has chosen the color of our eyes and the height at which we are to stand. He not only knows the number of hairs on your head but also selected the shade of color in which each strand should begin and end as. He draws wrinkles throughout our body to help indicate the weight of this life’s journey, be it one of joy or pain or both. Worldly thinking pressures us into being critical of what we see in the mirror rather than see the canvas of His creation.
The darkness in this world would love for us to pause and doubt the handiwork of our Creator. Yes we were unworthy…and then Christ touched this earth, bore the weight of sin, died on a cross, rose from the dead and even He, before the cross, asked sandals to be removed so that He could wash feet. Jesus did not criticize the disciples for having sandals on their feet, He simply asked them to remove them. He knew that only then the cleansing water could wash away the dirt of the earth.
This reach for more of Jesus invites you into an intimacy with your Creator. Ask Him to show you if there is anything in your life that needs to be removed so the cleansing water can wash away the dirt of this world.
The thoughts you think when you look in the mirror, need to be taken captive. Remember dear friend, God chose the features of your face.
You are the only one who can remove the man-made that sits between you and Jesus. Our Father wants for us to not only experience the feel of holy ground on our skin, but also feel His righteous favor coursing through our very souls.
People can be so fixated on being enough, doing enough, looking like enough that they miss the simple truth that they are in fact enough. Not enough to save themselves…but worth enough to God to be rescued, redeemed and brought back to Him.
Do you believe such worth dwells within you?
Do you frame artwork and then cover up what God has designed in you?
Are you taking care of the temple Christ has established within you?
"Don't you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and who was given to you by God?"
1 Corinthians 6:19
And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”
Matthew 21:12-13 | ESV
We need to not only recognize our body as a temple, with which the Holy Spirit resides, but we need to treat it as such. Poor lifestyle choices aren’t a good way to care for this temple…and perhaps one reason you have been critical of yourself is simply because you have filled this temple with junk and Jesus is not ok with it being there.
You are a work of art in the eyes of the One who made you, but are you covering what He has created when you should be caring for it?
When I stopped wearing makeup, allowed my natural hair color to take over and started caring physically for my body, I began to see the “me” God designed for me to be. The blue in my eyes became more clear rather than overshadowed by mascara caked eyelashes. Glistening strands of silver began to lace through my dark hair in a way that I actually find beautiful. The wrinkles that are slowly starting to surface are not shamed but seen. The way I looked to the world was once a sandal keeping my God-given skin off holy ground…but no more. And never again.
And to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
Ephesians 4:24 | ESV
What man-made sandals do you need to remove in your life so you can step on to the hallowed ground He has set before you? Friend, it’s time to take them off.
The life ahead of you just might be your burning bush, where the Heavenly purpose of what God wants to accomplish in and through you is revealed. Let God show you anything in your life that will hinder you from standing on the holy ground He has invited you onto.
