By: Dale Weckbacher
Ephesians 6:13
Therefore take up the
whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and
having done all, to stand.
NKJV
Ephesians 6:15
Having shod your feet
with the preparation of the gospel of peace
NKJV
I remember growing up and going shoe shopping with my
mother. I had very narrow feet as a
child, in fact, I was narrow all over, something that has changed with my
age. I remember her telling me to always
buy shoes that fit right and provided support otherwise, my feet would hurt and
I would not be able to work or play as I wanted to.
As I grew up and started playing basketball and baseball, I
realized that if my shoes did not fit properly I would get blisters and have
sore feet. Blisters and sore feet would
make it difficult, if not impossible, to perform at my best. In order to serve in the army God, it is
important for us to take care of our feet.
This is a picture of what a typical Roman soldier’s shoe
would have looked like. When Paul was in
jail writing the letter to the Church in Ephesus, he would have observed the
soldiers shoes. As we can see, the shoe
is relatively simple and appears to provide little protection for the
soldier. However, we see that the sole
of the shoe has spikes or cleats made of brass.
The purpose of these brass cleats was to provide the soldier traction
when marching great distances over rough terrain. (1)
Just as my well-fitting footwear made it possible for me to
perform at my best when playing sports, the Roman soldier’s footwear would have
kept the soldier’s feet from becoming sore and blistered during long
marches. The cleats would also provide
traction for the soldier when engaged in hand-to-hand combat keeping him from
falling and easily overcome by the enemy.
Ephesians 6:15 tells us to shod our feet with the
preparation of the Gospel of Peace. Just
like the seeming simple boot that the Roman soldier would shod his feet with, our
feet are shod with the simple message of the Gospel that we can have complete
salvation from sin by simply believing in the death, burial, and resurrection
of Jesus Christ (Romans 10:9). We do not
have to travel to any special place or say any special prayer or chant. We simply have to believe.
However, just because the gospel is simple does not mean it
is not powerful. It is this simplicity
of the Gospel that provides us traction when we are engaged in spiritual
battle. This simple message of grace
gives us confidence in battle that we are the children of God and that God is
on our side in battle.
However, unlike the Roman soldiers feet that marched into
war, our feet are shod with the gospel and our purpose is to bring peace.
Rom 10:15
And how shall they
preach unless they are sent? As it is written:
"How beautiful
are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace,
Who bring glad
tidings of good things!"
NKJV
Our feet do not march into war bringing destruction but our
purpose is to bring peace wherever we go.
We are to be peacemakers and for this reason we shall be called the sons
of God (Matthew 5:9).
As we scan world events, we see a total absence of peace in
our world. There are wars all over the
world, Afghanistan and Iraq. We now have
to take off our shoes and be searched at the airport because of the threat of
another terrorist attack. We are even searched
when going to a sporting event or concert.
Our political world is also full of division and it seems there is no possibility
of peaceful discourse to come up with solutions to our nations, and the world’s
problems.
This is why as soldiers in the spiritual battle for the
heart of our nation and world, we must shod our feet with the gospel of
peace. In a world lacking peace, we have
an opportunity to march in, standing on the truth of the simple gospel of peace
that offers salvation to anyone willing to believe in the death, burial, and
resurrection of Jesus Christ. However,
just because our purpose is to bring peace, our gospel shoes also provide
traction, enabling us to stand in battle and the protection of the thick sole
of the shoe also gives us support and protection during long marches. These long marches are the struggles of life
that could tire or wear us out but because our feet are protected by the
gospel, we can endure these seeming long marches.
So, after putting on your belt of truth and breastplate of
righteousness, do not forget your gospel shoes of peace.
1. History of Sandals. Roman Sandals: Military
footwear. historyofsandals.blogspot.com. [Online] May 30, 2011. [Cited:
November 10, 2013.]
http://historyofsandals.blogspot.com/2011/05/roman-sandals-military-footwear.html.
No comments:
Post a Comment