Shod… People with horses know that term well. I’m not a horse, but I like being well shod. Most people do, especially us girls…we like shoes.
There is a purpose for being shod…to cover the feet and make us able to take steps without subjecting our tender flesh to the bare ground. The older I’ve gotten, my choices have changed…the emphasis becomes more on comfort and purpose rather than style and appearance.
When I go on a day’s shopping trip, I take in consideration the amount of walking, and I make sure I’m shod accordingly. Every Christian should make similar considerations daily, we should be ‘shod’ appropriately, for we are shopping with Jesus, looking for others who will choose His offer. ‘He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.’ (1 Peter 3:9)
He has already bought me…paid the price, I’m just waiting to go home with Him. Meanwhile, He is within me, with me every moment of every day. He’s not walking around in flesh anymore…He is RE-presented to the world now thru the flesh of His children. ‘Christ is in you..’ (Col. 1:27) That’s me… and you, if you‘re His.So what about the foot-gear in the armor we’ve been discussing? ‘..your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace..’(Eph. 6:15) The common soldiers of that day were shod with a type of sandal or ‘caligae’. They were strapped around the instep and ankle, with thick soles studded with protruding nails that kept them standing firmly in the sandy ground.
In the very real spiritual war that is going on all around you and I, we must be shod. But not with a spiked heel. We are to be shod and prepared with ‘the gospel of peace’ We can’t achieve any victory without this important basic piece of equipment. (shoes DO make the outfit !)
The gospel/good news/message….IS peace. Peace with God instead of conflict with Him. He is perfect, we are not. FAR from it in fact ! Conflicts (sin) exist in our relationships with each other. There is conflict between us and God. Conflict destroys personal peace and peace with others…family, friends, spouses, neighbors, strangers, other nations…. It gets to be a really awful mess. Painful. Hurtful. Damaging. There is a solution to the problem…reconciliation has been made possible. Peace with God will bring personal peace and peace with one another.
Ephesians 2 has a lot to say about this.. ‘In Christ Jesus, you who were far away, have been brought near… He Himself is our peace, Who has… destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility…making peace, …, to reconcile ….them to God through the cross, by which He put to death their hostility.’ (selected verses)
How you are shod will tell off on you. Is the gospel of peace what keeps you grounded, standing firmly, able to stand against enemy assault? Or is it your flesh….your tender , vulnerable, bare feet?
