Ephesians 6:10-20

Whether we realize it or not, we’re engaged in a battle every day. All the time the devil and his cronies are trying to entice us from the road. They use clever tricks to get us away from God. To be prepared for the fight it is so important to put on the amour of God. The first two pieces are the belt of the truth and the breastplate of righteousness. Now we get to the shoes.

For the Greek soldier it was extremely important to protect his feet. If the feet were damaged, the condition of the rest of the body wouldn’t matter, because the rest of the body couldn’t go anywhere if the feet couldn’t carry it. That is why the soldiers wore special shoes made of leather and iron to protect these two very important parts of their bodies.

In the spiritual amour it is also crucial that this part of the body should be specially protected: 15 … having your feet fitted with the readiness of the gospel of peace …

In the original text the phrase is directly translated as preparing for the Gospel of peace. Before we can share the Gospel with others, we must first immerse ourselves in the message. We must ensure that we know exactly what God wants to teach us here.

The more time we spend with someone, the more we become like them. My sister bought a new car and sent a photo to our family group via WhatsApp. One of the other sisters commented that with the new car the first sister looked just like our mom. Her response was how frightening it was to see how much she had become like our mom.

You see, the more time we spend with the Word of God, the better we prepare ourselves for life out there. The more time we spend with the Word, the more we become like Jesus. Henry (e-Sword) described it as follows:

The preparation of the gospel of peace signifies a prepared and resolved frame of heart, to adhere to the gospel and abide by it, which will enable us to walk with a steady pace in the way of religion, notwithstanding the difficulties and dangers that may be in it.

When we take the salvation message of peace seriously and understand it well, we become strong enough to walk through the world. Then we won’t be easily tripped up by clever tricks. Then we accept the message of salvation in our lives.

In the wild world out there where things do not always go as we hope and wish, we can have peace. Where businesses fail, where relationships are torn apart, where the tears flow and terrible things happen to us, we can still arrive at peace. It does not always make sense, but with God’s Word on our feet it just happens.

Maybe you should try it …

Reflection

What do your shoes look like?

Will they withstand the test of time?

How much peace are you leaving behind?

Prayer

Lord, the peace that You brought into the world is available to each of us. You want us to make it part of our relationships and our whole existence. May your Holy Spirit help us in our search for peace. Amen