And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace(Eph 6:15)
ZACK: I’m gonna plainly ask you to take the lead on this one Shiran. Why shoes? And why the Gospel of Peace? Incidentally, isn’t ‘gospel’ also paraphrased ‘the Good News’? And that would incidentally become ‘…the good news of peace’, would it?
SHIRAN: First of all, it’s been quite a while, soldiers! We apologize for the huge gap between the last post and this one. Please pray with us, so that we are able to co-ordinate our time and prayer in order to blog weekly as we should.
We wear different kinds of footwear for different activities. For a soldier going out into the heat of battle, footwear must have multiple purposes: to provide resistance against any treacherous ground encountered; to provide comfort in case of heat and to keep the feet warm in case of snowy mountains; and they must be able to support the soldier in case of slippery ground.
ZACK: “in case of slippery ground”. Now I love that one.
SHIRAN: “Have your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace,” Paul tells us. Preparation is a key word when it comes to the gospel. We must each be shod with footwear with which we will be able to run at any moment to share the good news of Jesus Christ. “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season,” Paul said to his beloved Timothy (2 Tim 4:2). We should be ready always to preach the gospel.
ZACK: When I read that verse again Shiran, I’m reminded of that Middle Eastern custom of greeting, where one wishes the other party peace first. In the Arab speaking world, it’s always, "As-salaam Alaik’um!", which translates ‘Peace be with you!’. I love the Jewish one even better, “Shalom Shalom!” which I learned means “Perfect Peace with you!” So it’s peace, peace, peace, do you think we (as 21st century Christians) miss out on something in that verse with the peace?
SHIRAN: I believe Christians have greatly underestimated the power of peace, Zack. We must put on the armour of God every single day; by faith; whether it feels good or not, regardless of our circumstances. The gospel of peace is for our own use, too. Sometimes we struggle in life and need some comfort, and it is in such moments that we are able to remember words from the Bible to keep us going. If we put on our shoes during the good times, they will keep us walking during the tough times. And while we are on the topic of walking and sharing the gospel I would like to add something I learnt recently: no one who is truly born again will keep the gospel to themselves.
ZACK: True there Shiran, and Jesus couldn’t even be clearer when He issued the great commission unto us all to go ye into all the world and preach the gospel of the kingdom unto every creature. It would literally be a great defiance of the King’s order for one not to share.
SHIRAN: It would. And the love of Christ in us produces a joy that we cannot keep to ourselves. For example, Andrew immediately went and told his brother, Peter, that he had met Jesus (John 1:40-41).
ZACK: Isn’t it so interesting how this plays out even before the Great Commission is issued? It’s almost as though there were a chain reaction of events set into action by the issue out of the Good News when Jesus spoke to Andrew. I’m even reminded of how DNA forms in our bodies. Just one code lays the blueprint for the other and so on. See, Shiran, God’s spiritual laws were long in motion even before we even thought of it. So awesome!!
SHIRAN: Amen! None of the people that Jesus healed were able to keep it to themselves. They immediately went and shared it in the streets – wherever they could, they announced that they had met a Man who healed them of their affliction and loved them regardless of their past.
ZACK: At this juncture Shiran, I’m reminded of that blind man in John 9 who was castigated for being born a sinner and for whom Jesus was also criticized for having healed on a Sabbath day. The man’s words, almost as though I could hear him speak in that Pharisee kangaroo court, play out so clearly in my mind, “Whether the man (in reference to Christ) is a sinner or not, I do not know. One thing I do know though. I was blind but now I see”.
SHIRAN: Amen! Soldiers, shoe your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace today. Say it out loud and thank Jesus for the shoes He gives you which you can wear despite the spiritual weather conditions. His word commands us to “walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called.” (Ephesians 4:1.) How would we walk worthy, if we had no shoes?
ZACK: I guess we wouldn’t last at all, especially in light of the respective vocations to which we all are called. Thanks for this Shiran, I’m gonna shoe my feet this now.
SHIRAN: Thank you, Zack, and God bless you!
