Does your shoe fit?

Put on your shoes so that you are ready to spread the Good News that gives peace. (Eph6:16GW) Shoes in the modern time have become part of the fashion statement. There are different shoes for different occasions and there are different shoes to fit different dressing. They come in different shades of color, design and material. Now, the worth of a gentleman is measured even by his shoes. I once heard a high society woman say that the first thing she checks in a man are his shoes and belt. No matter how lovely you dress, it is considered incomplete if your shoe does not match the dress, if it does not match the occasion and if it its quality is nothing to write home about. Shoe business is big business, and the designers are not making it easy for those who are crazy about it, because they keep churning out new designs. Especially for the ladies, it is a big fad. Couples with design, shapes and qualities are the different colors. When a former President of a country was overthrown, they found about 500pairs of shoes in his wife s closet. This was about 20yrs ago. I believe there are women who have more shoes now and that is not to say they have all the designs. The appetite for shoes like any other need of man can never be satisfied, they are only curtailed by economic realities of opportunity cost. As beautiful and expensive as a shoe might be, the greatest disaster is to wear a shoe that is not well fitted. If it is too big, it makes walking uneasy and embarrassing and if it is too tight, then it makes for discomforting walk. That is why you just don t buy a shoe just because you like it, you must look for your size and wear it to see if it fits and comfortable before you pay for it. If not, you have just bought yourself a liability rather than a pleasure. It is with this hindsight that our base scripture is written. The Book of Ephesians is divided into 2, while chapters1-3 deals with our spiritual union with God, chapter 4-6 deals mainly with how we should live in our world as Christians, our relationship with fellow believers, with our spouses, our children, parent, colleagues and subordinates. Finally from Eph6:10, the Apostle Paul started admonishing us on how to deal with the negative spirit world. The picture he painted is that we are in a continuous contention so we should be prepared as soldier always ready for battle. The idea is like we are the Allied force (so to speak) maintaining the victory that Jesus had obtained on the Cross of Calvary over 2000yrs ago and the devil is the defeated foe whose time of total destruction has not come who refuse to let down, so he and his cohorts are fighting a guerilla warfare, sniping at unsuspecting believer to effect some damages since he knows that it is impossible for him to win and that the authority has been taken from him.

The warfare is not conventional, it is like the case of the suicide bombers (those are the new devil s agents). In other not to be caught unaware we are asked to be vigilant putting on the whole armor of God. Did you notice we were not asked to put on our own armor? Rather we were asked to put on God s armor. Sometimes that s where we miss it in spiritual warfare, we think it is all about our efforts, but it is not, it will not and it cannot be. Your effort without God will yield nothing because you can never defeat the devil yourself. It is all about the finished work of Christ. Summarily, your victory in life precludes your works but it is all about the grace of God through Jesus Christ and your agreement with it. Of the series of armor, our base scripture said we should always be decked in our shoes. The shoes referred to hear are the sandals the soldiers wore in those days. Sandals were not worn indoors, so that putting them on was a sign of readiness for activity. The military sandals in those days were made of hard leathers with things spikes under and they are flat. The sandals were specially made to give the soldier strong and firm grip on the floor, it makes it easy for them run and when they step on sharp objects it does not easily penetrates their feet. We shall be looking at the scripture and see how it applies to us, what does it mean to always wear shoes? Notice that like the other armor, even though it is of God, you are the one to wear it yourself. God provided the armor, but He will not wear them for you. So the first instruction is for you to put on your shoes. What that portends is that my shoes cannot fit you, neither can yours fit me. It also suggests that you have your own personal shoes among the many. In summary, every ones shoe is customized, fitting only to the wearer, it will only be convenient to the owner. This is actually talking about our individual understanding, revelation and reception of the word and of God. That is, as varying as God s promises are in the Bible, not all are applicable to you per time. Not only that, even though the word of God in the Bible is generalize, it will only profit you when it suits your personal life situation. The Bible says faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. This statement is personal and not general. For example, if you are in a church service and the Pastor preach for an hour, though there may be about 2000 congregation, what each person will consider as the word of God to them will vary with individual, depending on the area of need, the instruction needed, the correction needed, the individual concerned and so forth. That is why it is very important to pay attention to the message because most times it is not all the word that is for you, and if you allow yourself to be distracted by the devil you might just miss out on your own specific word of God which breeds faith.

That is why the scripture enjoins you to wear your own shoes. Take the word that is useful to you, run with the word the Lord drops in your heart. Also your own shoe means hold on to your understanding of God. God relates to us individually and personally, you will never understand God the way I will, neither will I understand Him the way you will. He relates with each individual on their level based on their experiences, temperament, understanding and even academic background. So you can t run with the revelation I receive from God, that s like wearing my shoe, it won t fit. When the chips are down, and you are wearing my shoes, it will either trip you, be uncomfortable for you or you might end up wearing my party shoe to climb a craggy mountain. My brethren, wear your own shoes. The Bible says if you wear your shoe, you will be ready. Your readiness to face the issues of life therefore is tied to how fitted your shoes are. For one, if you are not wearing your shoes, you are not ready. Many believers are caught unawares by the tricks of the enemy because they do not have a personal revelation of God. All they know are what other people or their Pastor told them. They do not have a personal relationship with God. They are not wearing their shoes, they are therefore not ready for the challenges that life brings. As the Amplified version puts it shod your feet in preparation [to face the enemy with the firm-footed stability, the promptness, and the readiness . Your preparedness and stability depends on how fitted your own shoes are, i.e. your personal understanding of God s word. Notice what the scripture said we should be ready to do; to spread the gospel. Gospel means good news. We as believers are supposed to be personally inundated with the truth of God s good news. The message of fear will never give you stability; neither will the message of doubt. The good news is simply all that Jesus had obtained for you at Calvary. It means also, healing, protection, deliverance, provision, wholeness, prosperity, righteousness and all that Jesus died and rose again for. That is why the Bible says we should rightly divide the word of truth because you can wrongly divide it. Also the Bible say we should buy the truth and sell it not. Spend effort to personally know God s truth and let it stick so that you can share it with unbelievers, your fellow believers and even the devil when he comes your way. We all are supposed to be preachers. A preacher is simply anyone who proclaims the gospel of Jesus. Once you can share of His goodness, you are a preacher. The reason you will not be able to proclaim His truth convincingly will be because you have not worn your own shoes. Most of the time, the only thing we proclaim are what others and our Pastor said like a parrot. Notice, a parrot cannot proclaim the word because it only echoes word, it does not have understanding of what it says neither does it mean what it says. So when all you say are the words of another, you are only parroting the word and not preaching it. So when temptations comes your way like Jesus you should be able to tell the devil it is written.

Finally, the scripture says the good news brings or gives peace. That is, if your shoe fits and you are able to confront the whiles of the devil and his cohort with your personal understanding of the word of God, you are able to have peace in the midst of the stormy weather of life. You are able to overcome adversity; you are able to have a firm solid grip of yourself and your circumstances no matter how it comes because the gospel is a gospel of peace. Being able to preach to life situations your personal understanding of God s truth is the way to a peaceful life and with your peace (unperturbed rest of mind) the devil is already defeated even before the manifestation of your expectation because he is not able to steal your peace. Hallelujah!!!! You can like Jesus tell every storm, peace be still. It is instructive to know that the word peace is an all encompassing word, it means among other things; prosperity, rest, wholeness, set at one again. The gospel is able to give you rest in the unstable world. When everything becomes awry, the gospel is able to set you at one again. This peace is accessible to you when you have worn your shoe in readiness to be a preacher man of the gospel to the circumstances of life and to the devil and his goons. In the final analysis, the Lord through this scripture enjoins us to know Him personally through the various means He is presented to us; by preaching, teaching, group or personal study of the word, personal or group worship, reading of Christian literatures etc. He is telling you and me also that this personal revelation we receive of Him is part of our armor of God through which we are able to face the issues of life and overcome them. And in other for us to have a better understanding of this truth, He related this firm grip of his words to the comfort and beauty of our shoes. So my brethren do your shoes fit?