“Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Exodus 3:5
“Moses was prevented from approaching the burning bush until he had taken off his shoes. You are aspiring to stand in the presence of the One who is greater than every thought and every passion. How then can you refuse to strip yourself of every passionate thought?
Praying means rejecting pleasures and banishing anger. Do not open your heart to fleshly longings. They stir up emotions that trouble the eye of the mind and therefore destroy prayer.
Your prayer ought to be steadfast and fervent. So dispel all distractions and wandering thoughts the moment they present themselves. They disturb you and worry you so that your fervor is weakened.
During your prayer, try to keep your mind deaf and dumb. Only so while you be able to pray. Do not be content with external attitudes of prayer. Turn your mind to the prayer of the spirit, with awe and fearfulness.”
Evagrius of Pontus in Sentences on Prayer 479ff (PG79, 1167ff) in Drinking from the Hidden Fountain: A Patristic Breviary, Ancient Wisdom for Today’s World, ed. by Thomas Spidlik (Kalamazoo: Cistercian, 1994) 361.
Notice the reason why Moses had to take off his shoes to draw near to God. The ground was holy. It was sanctified, set apart for God. To enter such a place ourselves means that, like Moses, we have to take off our shoes. We have to set aside our fleshly desires.
Only after Moses did that, that is, set aside his comfort and pleasure and focused on God did He see God and hear the plan God had for Him. Like Evagrius describes it, Moses was in “awe and fearfulness” before God. Read Exodus 3 to discover this.
This relates to generosity because when we draw near to God and take off our shoes, the plan He reveals to us will not only be greater than anything we imagine, it will be accomplished only because God will make it so.
So, take off your shoes, let go of worry and wandering thoughts, and draw near to God in prayer. Oh, and don’t be surprised if His plan for you is not something on your radar. To strip yourself of passionate thoughts is to take on God’s vision, His radar for you.
Ponder God’s words to Moses as you respond to today’s Meditation. And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.” Exodus 3:12
God promised His presence with Him on the journey. He also promises to make it so and the sign wa celebration and worship on that mountain. May God give you a similar sign and celebration as you take off your shoes and follow Him wherever He leads you.