I. OUR FEET NEED TO BE SHOD
This may seem an elementary point but I wish to show you that it is important. Taking off the shoes is a sign of relaxation, of a spirit of play. Is that not the spirit that prevails among many Christians today? Are we of the spirit and attitude that God requires of pilgrims? And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD’S passover, Exodus 12:11. How perverse we are! We would kick off our shoes when we should be hastening forth to serve the Lord and we would keep on our shoes when we enter the Lord’s presence to worship, the one time we should put them off, Exodus 3:5.
II. THE SPECIAL SHOES THAT WE SHOULD WEAR
1. They come from the Gospel.
The Gospel is our Eden -- it is the source of all our supplies. It is like sunshine to this world. Without it all would perish. It presents us with everything that our souls require on the journey to Canaan. The Eskimo lives largely off the seal. It feeds him, clothes him and gives him oil for his lamps. The Gospel, in a far more comprehensive manner, meets all needs. That includes our shoes.
2. Our shoes come from the peace that stems from the gospel.
True peace stems only from the gospel. It comprises:
Peace with God.
Because the carnal mind is enmity against God, Romans 8:7. What a fusillade of abuse and blasphemy is shot heavenward by sinful man in his war against God. Peace can only come by the gospel. It publishes the terms set down by God. It is peace through the blood, Col 1:20.
Peace of conscience.
The troubled heart cannot take joy in anything. Since man sinned against God his conscience has troubled him. When reconciliation with God takes place it is accompanied by reconciliation with the conscience. Good cheer is the companion of forgiveness, Matt 9:2.
Peace with our fellow man.
Luke 1:16-17. The picture of the peace in the millennium is representative of the peace the gospel brings even now, Isaiah 11:6.
3. This working of peace by the gospel provides a preparedness which serves as shoes for our feet.
It puts us in a frame of mind and heart that makes our feet ready to step out upon the roughest road with unhesitating eagerness as a man would who was shod with strong shoes.
Ready for work -- II Timothy 2:21, Titus 3:1, I Pet 5:2.
Ready to speak for Christ -- I Pet 3:15.
Ready for sacrifice and trial -- Acts 21:13, II Tim 4:6. Have a look at your feet today. See if they are shod with these shoes or are they bare, thus hindering your walking and your working and your warring for God.