TUESDAY July 30th
Ephesians 6:15
‘. . . as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace’
Back in Exodus 12:11 when the children of Israel were about to partake of the first Passover, this is what God said to them ‘In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand.’
Notice the need to have the belt fastened and sandals on their feet. They needed to be ready to get going as soon as the instruction was given for the exodus from Egypt to begin. The belt tightened and the shoes on the feet would enable them to act with speed.
In our text we are to have as shoes for our feet, the readiness of the gospel. The KJV makes for easier reading or understanding it says, ‘And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.’ As we have the armour on, one of the ways and perhaps the most important ways in which we can battle against the forces of darkness is by our willingness to speak out, to preach, to declare the good news of the gospel of Jesus. For as we do so, and souls are saved, we will have plundered the kingdom of darkness and played our part in bringing them into the Kingdom of light, the Kingdom of God.
There is an obvious verse in the book of Romans, which Paul himself had taken from Isaiah, which says ‘And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”’ (Romans 10:15 cited from Isaiah 52:7)
I wonder how often we look down at someone’s feet to observe what they are wearing, maybe trainers, brogues, high heel, crocs, slip on, tied up with laces, we could go on, if at home maybe slippers or in the garden, boots, wellies. But I wonder which we would say we feel most comfortable in, what do we prefer to wear. But more importantly how often have we (using the KJV) shod our feet with the gospel of peace. For we can be so keen to ensure we have the best the shop can offer be it a shoe or a trainer etc. and give little thought to being shod with the gospel of peace. My shoes etc. will all be left behind when I am gone, but the good news is as we are shod with the gospel of peace, as we share the good news of the gospel, those we bring to faith in Christ will be there in eternity with us. May God help us to be well shod, and to ensure that we keep our lives unspotted so that as we share the gospel, those we share it with will be able to see the evidence of the change it has made in our lives so they too will want to know Jesus.
Going back to the account from Exodus, as the children of Israel would have to be ready to get going with speed, so we need to be ready to go with speed to share the gospel, to warn others more importantly as the day of Christs return nears.