Armor of God – Feet Fitted with the Gospel of Peace

Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and sword of the Spirit which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions, with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.” Eph 6:10-18

Growing up we had a long gravel driveway.  I could run down that driveway, all the way to the barn, with bare feet. Ouch!  Today, if I even stepped one foot onto a gravel driveway, I would be in pain. Having our feet fitted and ready before we step out into the world, makes perfect sense.   Having one of the most tender parts of our bodies exposed to pain does not come from a place of peace.

Readiness in this context is a warning.  A warning of times of trouble to come, an indication of a war against evil.  We have started this series on the Armor of God by identifying our enemy so we may be aware of what kinds of battles we will be fighting.

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

God has given us this warning, not to scare us, but to provide us with the gospel of peace!  We are ready for the troubles of this world because we have our footing, firmly planted in the gospel of peace. What an essential part of the armor to wear!

“Unless you have a solid footing of peace, you can never make war.” – Debbie McDaniel

As the body of Christ, we are also called to preach the gospel of peace.  We have been sent out into this world to announce the good news of God’s Kingdom, which means we are to be ready to spread His way of peace to the world.

Satan wants to take as many souls for his glory as he can.  We can be certain he will be putting up a fight.  Pretending this tension does not exist in our workplace, in our neighborhoods and most importantly, in our own families, this is the lie Satan wants us to believe.  He is counting on us not being ready.  He is out there creating hate, anger, and chaos, so we do not see the gospel of peace that is already in place for us.

We must be intentional to put on our shoe’s and share this gospel of peace with a world that has been duped and fooled into believing that they are not wanted by the very God that created them and loves them.

We must be Warriors of Hope!!

Can you commit to sharing the gospel of peace with one person in your life this week?  How will you prepare your feet for battle?  What kind of shoes will you be putting on this week?  Let’s pray for the gospel of peace to penetrate our hearts, so we are ready for war!

Heavenly Father,  we come before you ready to share your gospel with the world around us.  Open our eyes to the opportunities to be Warriors of Hope this week, in our families, in our workplace, and in our neighborhoods.  Help us to stand firm in your peace that passes all understanding. We praise and worship our God of peace.  Amen