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Well, this is the last week in this series on Ephesians, and the classic passage from chapter six is the armour of God - I love it and think it's one of the most important passages for a Christian's daily walk - I thought it would be great to focus on one article in the armour, but here's the full passage because I think it's so great:

'Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.' Ephesians 6:11-17

Put on your shoes!

So why did I pick the shoes? All parts of the armour of God are important - why was it the shoes which stood out? Well, first of all, I just like shoes. But also, I have a real passion for evangelism, and the shoes described here are great evangelistic tools, and I think it would be great for me to be stirred evangelistically! I therefore welcome you to eavesdrop on a study aimed at myself, and I hope we all benefit from looking at the Word of God! The phrasing Paul uses gives us a nice three-point study, so this ought to be digestible!

For your feet

So Paul uses shoes as the analogy - why? I feel the answer here is twofold: firstly, shoes (coupled with greaves) were part of the armour worn by the Roman army, to protect the feet and shins from stones, sharp sticks and so on as the army marched. This enabled them to travel through dangerous terrain. By reading and becoming familiar with the gospel, we are protecting ourselves when we are in spiritually dangerous terrain such as our workplace (surrounded by unbelievers), or the nightclub (surrounded by alcohol and sexual temptation). By reminding ourselves constantly of the good news of our salvation, we will be protected from pitfalls which appear around us. Secondly, the shoes are worn on the feet, and provide us with a strong foundation - the entirety of our faith is built on the gospel; that is where our faith begins, that is where our relationship with God begins, we receive the Spirit by believing in the gospel - without the gospel as our foundation then quite simply we are not Christians! This is the perfect time to quote the excellent hymn by Edward Mote, recently covered by Delirious: 'On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.'

Readiness

This word readiness is interesting, and comes from the Greek hetoimasia. This word implies a mental preparation to the point of 'habitual readiness' (Adam Clarke's words, not mine!) - it means being permanently ready . . . but ready for what? Again, the answer here is twofold: firstly, the implication is that salvation brought through the gospel of Jesus Christ brings us preparation for heaven! The gospel should bring us 100% confidence in our salvation, and that should overflow into a readiness to tell others. If you have received the grace of God through the death of His Son, Jesus Christ, on the cross then your confidence will be in Him and Him alone! This confidence brings with it a realisation that those around us who have not heard the gospel, or have not believed, are headed in the wrong direction! There is an urgency - and becoming more and more familiar with the good news of Jesus Christ should stir us to tell those around us at every available opportunity.

Gospel of peace

The word 'peace' is used very deliberately here, I think in two directions, outward and inward. Outwardly, we should remember that the gospel is of peace by evangelising peacefully - it is too easy to evangelise by trying to argue down every point brought to us by 'shouting the loudest', but we must be careful! Jesus' character is clearly demonstrated in the gospel as being a calm, peaceful man who always knew what was going on, and regardless of what he was faced with would answer in ways that were easy to understand, yet in the same breath questioned the questioner. We are telling the world about Jesus, not so that we can attack the global population of unbelievers, but so that we can attack the devil's hold on them. Inwardly, we should never forget what the gospel does - it brings peace between us and God, within ourselves and within the church. The gospel is a true gospel of peace, which reconciles us to God the Father, which brings us to a position of recognising our own true worth, and which brings unity between believers unlike anything else!

Conclusion

So, to sum up: we are to wear the shoes (to protect us and give us a firm foundation) of the readiness (for heaven and to tell others) given by the gospel of peace (be that in the manner of our evangelism, or the state of our relationships as Christians). Of course we, like Paul says, must not just blindly follow this advice because it's good advice - we must make sure our hearts are right first; this means 'wearing' these shoes as an act of laying our lives down as living sacrifices - for this is our spiritual act of worship (Romans 12:1)!

"Chip Shots from the Ruff of Life" from Tom Kelley

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