The Full Armor of God: Shoes of the Gospel of Peace – Part 4

Shoes of the Gospel of Peace

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared."- Ephesians 6:15 NLT

Several years ago, I had watched a film that had extensive footage of people who were rock climbers. That’s an adventure that has fascinated me, somewhat, since I was a child. However, I have never had the courage, nor physical attributes, to be that extreme adventurist to attain such a feat. As I watched with amazement, these climbers would sometimes dangle off the edge of a mountain side – often by one hand, their climbing rope, or maybe by a fingernail or two. I was in awe toward how they would, in the midst of their dangling, desperately try to secure their footing somewhere on the side of that rock wall, in hopes of stabilizing their balance as they climbed. They would swing back and forth until their foot made contact with the side of the wall – like lint to a piece of fabric. The contact was made due to the good Lord above, great coordinating skills, and the type of shoes they wore – climbing shoes. These special shoes are shoes designed specifically for climbing – that’s it. They have no padding, so they are definitely not made for hiking or walking; but for the avid rock climber, they help enable him or her to take advantage of the small footholds in the wall and use them effectively. They had the right shoe for the right job.

As we have been learning over the past few weeks, the Apostle Paul was relating the spiritual armor of the Christian to that of the Roman soldier’s armor; in doing this, we continue to watch him break it down accordingly by piece. So, why the Shoes of the Gospel of Peace? Why couldn’t it have been the Helmet of the Gospel of Peace? After all, the mind is what seems to be in so much confusion and turmoil at times, right? We will attempt to understand the importance of what the Holy Spirit is saying through Paul to the Ephesians, as well as all Christians.

The Roman soldiers, like today’s soldiers, did an extensive amount of walking. The terrain was rocky in vast amounts of the areas in which they marched. They would come into geographical conditions that could cause them to lose their footing, thus falling. Not only would that look bad for the most powerful army at the time, but it was dangerous and could have led to their defeat if they came under attack – due to clumsiness. Just as we learned earlier about the right shoes for the rock climber to have in order to climb effectively, the Roman soldiers needed the right shoes to maintain balance, to keep from sliding on loose gravel, and to be able to withstand an attack (as well as attack) during battle. So, the type of shoes they wore had small spikes which protruded out of the soles. This would help the soldier grip the ground, helping him maintain balance. Golfers, football players, and soccer players (to name a few), wear cleats that work the same way. These types of shoes were designed to help maintain footing while focusing attention on the task at hand.

The Christian should wear and maintain proper footwear at all times. Wearing the Shoes of the Gospel of Peace help us focus on the battle at hand so we can use our weapons effectively to withstand an attack as well as attack back. If we focus more on our feet, then, that could most likely lead to defeat. I remember back when I was a child. As most children do that live in the country, I ran around barefooted. I ran all over the place without a care in the world; until that moment I stepped on a rock and it brought me to my knees in pain and agony. From then on, I was cautious about walking around barefooted with my mind constantly on my feet. When I wear shoes, I don’t even think about stepping on gravel, in mud, on glass, etc. – it comes naturally with no fear (as I’m sure it is with most of us). Same way with the Christian; we need to wear the proper footwear and not be afraid to step where God leads us.

Why are they called Shoes of the Gospel of Peace? We should be ready to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ at all times, at all costs. The Greek word for Gospel is euaggelion which means “good tidings or good news”. That is what the Gospel of Jesus Christ is – Good News. Peace is just one attribute of the Gospel. Peace comes with the Gospel. Jesus sent His Disciples out to minister in twos. In Matthew chapter 10: 13-14, Jesus told them that every house that they came to that would hear the Good News and received it, peace would come upon the house as they blessed it. However, for the households that would not listen and receive the Good News, they were to turn around, shake the dust from their feet, leave, and keep it moving.

Christians should bring peace that comes with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Right now, in today’s world, we need peace unlike ever before. We should be the “light of the world” and “salt of the earth” (Matthew 5:13-14). We should be the peacemakers- after all; Jesus is the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6), Who’s peace passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7). He said blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God (Matthew 5:9). Essentially, peace should be with us everywhere we go; which only comes by being rooted and grounded in the Word of God – the Gospel.

How do we get the Shoes of the Gospel of Peace? By faith. We must have faith as we read the Word of God and allow the Holy Spirit to engrave it on the tablets of our hearts, in our minds, and in our spirits. By wearing this part of our spiritual armor, we will be able to stand firm in faith (1 Corinthians 16:13, 1 Peter 5:9), and have a peace that simply makes no sense during our most rockiest and troublesome times. We should keep our shoes on at all times, because every person we come in contact with is an opportunity to share the Good News and spread peace. By wearing them always, every attack the enemy comes against us with will be countered and we will still be standing on the Word, after the dust settles.

How do we maintain the Shoes of the Gospel of Peace? By not compromising. Many Christians have slipped and fallen into the snares of the world by compromising the Gospel with the world’s message. By doing so, slippery times will surely come with no shoes to stand. The moment that the enemy can catch us barefooted, his attacks will be overwhelming and our faith in the Gospel can potentially become shakened. We will find ourselves compromising with sin, a little bit more, each and every day. By staying in the Word of God and continuing to share it with others along the way, our joy will continue to be replenished, our faith strengthened, and our wills will remain surrendered unto God – there will be no room for compromise.

Remember this, just as wearing the proper shoes in the natural are important, so is wearing the proper shoes in our spiritual. Just as we have learned about the importance of the other pieces of armor in the past weeks, this piece of our armor is equally important. We must not take these shoes lightly and we must treat them with the utmost respect, by properly maintaining them, as we continue to walk this straight and narrow path.

Never let the enemy catch you barefooted! Until next week, may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

 

 

Next week- The Full Armor of God: Shield of Faith (Part 5)