Barefoot Christians

[Stand,] having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace.

Ephesians 6:15

Soldiers in antiquity sometimes faced a frightening prospect. Their enemies would set spikes into the ground that would slice open a soldier’s foot like a razor. Roman forces, therefore, wore sturdy boots called caligae, which were less likely to be punctured.

It won’t do to be a barefoot Christian. We must be shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Our feet, in the Scriptures, are symbols of going. Both Isaiah and Paul speak of the beautiful feet of those bearing good tidings. Jesus told us to go into all the world with the good news of Jesus Christ.

There is a certain safety when we’re shod with evangelistic zeal. When we’re determined to share Christ, our feet are, as it were, protected from many of the spikes the devil plants in our pathway. Every problem becomes a pulpit, and every sorrow becomes a sermon. Whatever the devil throws at us becomes an occasion to witness for Christ. Paul told the Philippians, “The things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel” (Philippians 1:12).

Don’t go barefoot into battle. Fit your feet with the gospel of peace.

The Gospel of peace . . . brings the joyful tidings of peace betwixt God and man by the blood of Jesus; and this is so welcome to the trembling conscience.

WILLIAM GURNALL, THE CHRISTIAN IN COMPLETE ARMOR