The Shoes of Readiness

The Whole Armor of God - Message 7 - The Shoes of Readiness. As we have been told to stand, withstand, having done all to stand, and to stand therefore, we almost get the idea that standing is important in spiritual warfare! That means that while we might not think that our feet are important to the battle that we fight, the feet are those members of our body upon which we do stand. If we lose our footing and slip we are open to attack. If we trip and fall we fall victim to the advance of the enemy.The Roman soldier wore thick leather sandals that had straps that wrapped around their ankles, sometimes all the way up to their knees. Most of the time, these sandals were covered with small pieces of metal to offer protection for the feet. Usually they also had metal cleats on the souls to give the soldier sure footing in treacherous terrain. Here we see that the shoes we wear are the readiness of the gospel. The good news in the midst of spiritual warfare is that we have peace with God through the gospel of Jesus Christ. Just as we learned with the breastplate, we are right with God, but even more than being justified, we are at peace with God. These shoes represent a readiness with the gospel. It is having the gospel close at hand, on our hearts and minds fresh each day, that we will be ready to stand our ground and march in victory as we overcome our spiritual enemy. We need the gospel. Let us never fall for the lie that we have already believed and are saved and so no longer need to be reminded of the good news about what Christ has done to give us peace with God, the forgiveness of sins, and the power both to will and do what is pleasing to God.