Holy Ground

Then Jesus said to them, ‘Don’t be afraid! Go tell my brothers to leave for Galilee, and they will see me there’. (Matthew 28:10)

These were the words of the risen Christ... and they are just as relevant today as they were when Jesus spoke them. He wants us to find Him in the Galilees of our lives. In the ordinary everyday places. 

When we think of the ministry of Christ, we realise that He walked through towns, villages, country places and many people heard Him speak and saw Him work miracles. Some saw only a remarkable man speaking interesting - even profound - thoughts. Others saw the Son of God. They listened, they opened their minds but also their hearts and their spirits and they found a Saviour and were touched by another world. It started in the Galilees of their lives - the ordinary places.

Jesus wants to walk with us and speak to us then we are in church - but also when we are in our homes, our work, our everyday situations. Sometimes it’s a word of correction - as happened to the disciples, for example, when they were arguing about who would be the greatest. Sometimes it’s a word of comfort - as when He spoke to Martha and Mary when Lazarus had died.

Moses was out in the desert looking after the flocks of his father-in-law when he saw the burning bush. He stopped, and turned aside to look and then to listen. Very quickly he found himself on holy ground.

A poem by Francis Thompson has in it the  lines:
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And lo, Christ walking on the water
 Not of Gennesareth, but Thames!

Are we aware that we have a Saviour who walks beside us and who can transform ordinary places into holy ground? I can remember certain places where, unexpectedly, God spoke to me in a way that brought a profound change into my life. I can picture exactly where I was when it happened, and sometimes it was in a very ordinary place when I was just going about my everyday business... and that place became holy ground.  Maybe that could happen more often for me if I was more ready to listen and to see, instead of being too absorbed in the natural circumstances around me. 

And maybe that is true for you too.

Jennifer