“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace, who brings good news, who announces salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”” Isaiah 52:7 NRSV
This title really made me think about the places that I have walked in my life. How about you? Where have your feet and shoes walked in your life so far?
What joys and triumphs have they shared with you?
My shoes brought me from a small country town, into a big overwhelming city. They have taken me to places around the world: visiting stunning New Zealand, smuggling Bibles into China, painting orphanages in Thailand, staying with family in England and giving me opportunity to practise my ‘school girl’ French in Paris. Beautiful shoes came with me as I walked down the aisle to be married to my amazing husband. Comfortable shoes held me as I walked into the hospital for the birth of each of our 6 children.
What situations have your shoes walked in?
My shoes have been in some very hairy and scary situations too. My heels have dug in while demanding doctors look at my child who continued to stop breathing. They have accompanied me in 3 situations where I almost died.
My shoes have also watched me in situations where I was blatantly walking in sin. Have your shoes travelled with you into compromising situations?
Wherever you have walked in your life, lessons have been learnt (hopefully), sights will have been seen (good and bad), relationships formed – some lingered and some moved on.
Just as you wear shoes for different areas of your life, you will have different messages for different seasons. Celebrations call for beautiful shoes. Bringing comfort to loved ones begs for comfortable shoes. Walking alongside someone in a challenging time requires athletic shoes. Going to the beach needs no shoes at all.
In the above verse, Isaiah 52:7, it calls the feet beautiful that bring good news, peace and salvation.
Where do your (feet) shoes take you each day? On public transport to your workplace? To your children’s school or after school activities? University? Your own sports activities?
No matter where your shoes take you, you can take the message of good news, peace and salvation. You don’t need a platform to share this message of Jesus. Actually, you don’t even need to mention the words Bible, God, Jesus or any other Christianese to shine the Light of Christ into your world. One of our sons came home after work and said, “I quoted the Bible today to a guy and he had no idea where it was from.” The guy said to our son, “That’s very wise.” Of course it is, it’s the Word of God, a seed that was now sown into this guys spirit.
What is this good news? It is so complex yet so simple. The good news IS Jesus and all that He has accomplished for you through His life, His horrific death and His spectacular resurrection. Forgiveness, healing, provision, protection, purpose, love, mercy, grace, acceptance, freedom, joy, peace, hope ….. just a few gifts of what you now have access to. If you have surrendered your life to Jesus and your desire is to live for Him, you have access to all of this and so much more.
Why would you not want to share this with others? Have you received it yet? It’s yours, take it!
If you listen to the news, read every newspaper, subscribe to the ‘doom and gloom’ social media sites, you can be forgiven for thinking that the world is getting darker. But it isn’t. Christianity is actually increasing at an exponential rate, more than any other time in history. Approximately “80,000 people are being born again daily. Christianity is, in fact, the largest, most influential force of humanity in the world today.”** How exciting is that! You just need to look a little bit deeper than what you are being presented with in the world of media, or even in your own backyard.
Where are you going to today? What is the message that you could share today?
The world needs hope.
If you are a disciple of Jesus, you have the hope that the world needs.
John 15:12 says, “This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.” This is the biggest commandment that Jesus gives to us.
The bottom line is:
Love God as Jesus does, love people as Jesus does.
That’s it. It’s that simple …… well, that’s what we all need to strive towards.
Wherever your shoes accompany you today, may I encourage you to allow your feet to be beautiful with the good news of Jesus. In what ways can you show kindness amongst a hurting world? How can you encourage someone today?
A suggested prayer:
“Jesus, please show me who I can help today and who I can share the hope of salvation with. Lead me to those who don’t know you personally and tell me what to say. Bring me someone that I can reveal Your love to today. May my life bring glory to You today and always.”
I pray that this has encouraged you. I would love to hear of your own adventures in your shoes in the comments below.
May you know the love and peace of your Heavenly Father today.
(As an added note, just 4 hours after I prayed the above prayer, a guy came to the door raising money for an organisation. We got to talking and I managed to get God in the conversation. As we progressed, I discovered that he used to be full on into the church and the Bible but couldn’t accept God’s love. I was so grateful that I had spent the time telling him how much God loved him and that he is important. After some time, he left saying that he was inspired and encouraged to pursue a relationship with God again. Isn’t God amazing! God wants to use you too to brighten someones day.)
** “Raptureless: an Optimistic Guide to the End of the World”, Chapter 10, by Jonathan Welton, 2013.
(Photo Credit: www.pexels.com)
Don't miss a moment!
New revelations, encouragement, and love delivered to your inbox.
I hate SPAM. I will never sell your information, for any reason.
