I know that we read verse 14
yesterday, but I feel a little funny starting off the Scripture reading with “.
. . and with your feet fitted. . .” And also there’s the fact that vs. 14
modifies “stand firm”; in other words, how are our feet are fitted describes
how we’re supposed to stand firm. It’s all connected.
In talking about our feet being
fitted with “the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace,” Paul’s echoing
an image in both Isaiah and in the
letter to the book of Romans. Both of those
passages talk about the beauty of the feet of those who proclaim Good News. In
context, Isaiah was primarily talking about national
salvation for Israel from her political oppressors. But Paul in Romans was
referring to a far greater salvation, salvation from God’s wrath and into
his beloved family of heirs.
People who are called by their Lord
to be his ambassadors to a lost world have an awe-inspiring privilege and
responsibility. Please forgive me as I quote myself from an earlier
posting:
Right
now, there are legions upon legions upon legions around the Throne in Heaven.
Each one of these angels is incredibly more powerful than you or I could ever
hope to be in this life. Almost every time you see an angel appear to someone,
the first words out of the angel’s mouth are “Don’t be afraid!” They are
luminescent with God’s glory. The stone-cold killing machines known as Roman
soldiers fainted dead away at
the sight of one. One angel—yes, one angel—killed 185,000
soldiers overnight.
And
every one of these angels delights to obey and bring glory to their Creator.
Let’s do a thought experiment: If the Lord on his throne said “I’d like to
spread the news about my Son to this tribe of nomads in this area. Do I have
any volunteers?” My friend, all the angels present would trip all over
themselves in rushing forward to volunteer. And if one of them showed up to tell people
about Jesus, I think they’d get a lot of attention, don’t you? It’d be hard to
dismiss the word of a being like this!
But
no. The Lord Almighty, in his wisdom, has chosen to bypass all those volunteers
and has chosen. . . you. And he’s chosen me. Can I be frank here? An angel’s
not going to chicken out of telling people. He’s not going to mess up the
message. He’s not going to get caught doing something that undermines his
witness. To my limited understanding, he’d make a much better evangelist and
missionary than you or I would be. But God hasn’t chosen any angel. He’s picked
us to be his ambassadors and
representatives to a lost and dying world. Wow.
To our Father and to those whom we
reach with the Good News, the best news they’ve ever heard, our “feet” are
“beautiful.” Anyone that we’ve had the privilege of leading to our Savior (or
even towards him, if we weren’t the
ones who directly introduced them to him) owe us a debt they can never
pay, just as we owe an unpayable debt to others.
Note that these shoes are the “the readiness that comes from the gospel of
peace.” God doesn’t call everyone to be an international missionary, or to be a
full-time evangelist like Billy Graham. But he calls everyone to be ready to be his ambassador wherever he
sends us. That’s part and parcel of being his follower.
Let’s take just a moment to talk
about the second piece of armor, the shield of faith. The shield he’s talking
about was usually soaked in water so that when an enemy fired flaming arrows
(an incredibly devastating attack), they’d be extinguished before they could
cause damage. He’s probably not referring to “faith” in the sense of a standard
set of Christian doctrine (as in “the
faith”), but our
basic trust in our Lord. The Enemy lobs all sorts of temptations and lies our
way, especially the temptation to lose confidence in the One who most deserves
our 100% trust.
Using your shield to squelch these
arrows is a choice. Trusting your Lord is a choice. Despite how circumstances
might look at the moment, no matter what the Enemy tries to whisper in your
ear, you have to choose to trust.
Shoes do no good if they’re never
worn, and a shield is useless if it’s never picked up.
Lord Jesus, wherever you send me,
whether it’s across an ocean or across the street to my neighbor, I want to be
ready. I trust you, but I need to trust you more. Please help me.
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