Maybe you feel like you have nothing to offer God. Maybe you look at all the mistakes you’ve made or people you’ve hurt and think God couldn’t possibly use you. Or maybe you think that you are just too messed up, too broken for God to fix.

That’s probably how Moses felt at the beginning of Exodus chapter 3. Sure, at one time he had possessed a burning desire to help his people, who were enslaved to Pharaoh. But he did it all wrong. He tried to take matters into his own hands, killing one of their tormentors (Exodus 2:12). But the people rejected his leadership (2:14), and he had to flee into Midian to escape the death penalty (2:15). And for forty years, he had been hiding out, working as a shepherd. Some savior he was. No wonder he was afraid to look at God (3:6).

And yet God attracted his attention (3:2). God called to him (3:4). God acknowledged his sin, that he was unable to draw near to God. But at the same time, God welcomed him to enjoy God’s blessings, to stand barefoot on holy ground, much as Adam had done (3:5). And God chose him to be the agent of His grace, to deliver His message to Pharaoh and to lead His people out of slavery in Egypt (3:10).

And why did God say He would do all this? Because He saw His people’s suffering and heard their cries for help. Because He knew their sufferings (3:7). In short, because He loved them.

And that’s the same God Who calls to us today. He knows the big mess we’ve gotten ourselves into. He knows how unworthy we are to serve Him. But because of the perfect sacrifice of Christ, He calls us to trust Him, to turn from our sin, to follow Him, and to carry His message of welcome and love to others.

Will we stand on holy ground, enjoying His presence and hearing His call? And will we share His love with others today?

Exodus 3:1-10 (NASB)

Now Moses was pasturing the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
2 And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed.
3 So Moses said, “I must turn aside now, and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up.”
4 When the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush, and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.”
5 Then He said, “Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”
6 He said also, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
7 And the LORD said, “I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings.
8 “So I have come down to deliver them from the power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite.
9 “And now, behold, the cry of the sons of Israel has come to Me; furthermore, I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians are oppressing them.
10 “Therefore, come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.”