Feet Shod With The Preparation Of The Gospel

"And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;" (Ephesians 6:15). I want to give an example of how to think about making sure that our feet our shod with the preparation of the Gospel. The key word here is preparation. Walking the gospel path looks different for everybody, and especially, it looks different for us from one day to the next. We can ensure that we are making the quickest and most reliable progress along the path if we prepare the right footwear for the terrain we are traversing. If we are slogging through a muddy swamp, then we are going to want to make sure we make the proper preparations and have our feet shod with some big, waterproof boots. If we are hiking up a mountain, we're going to want to make sure our feet are shod in hiking boots. We can take no thought and have no preparation and try to face all of life's challenges in exactly the same way with exactly the same pair of shoes, but we're going to find ourselves at a fancy ball wearing Crocs, or at the beach in dress shoes. God wants us to walk the gospel path successfully and in order to do this, we need to prepare the right footwear for the terrain we are facing. We need to let go of resentment that we can't always use the same pair of shoes for every occasion. And we need to learn to embrace the peace of mind that comes from prayerfully preparing for the current challenge and giving heed to the promptimgs of the Spirit on what kind of shoes will give us the best chance of triumphing over our temptations and trials. I know that God has prepared the exact right pair of shoes for every step of the Gospel path and if we will take the time and energy to lace up the proper pair, we will walk the path in the way the Lord always intended.