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FEET WELL SHOD

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Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Mar 5, 1901

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 78, No. 10.

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FEET WELL SHOD

By Uriah Smith

In the task assigned us of wrestling against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places, journeying to the heavenly Canaan, and running with patience the race set before us, there are no members more essential to success, and hence to be more scrupulously cared for and protected, than the feet; therefore the Bible has much to say about the feet.
The apostle Paul tells what provision should be made for them. He says: “Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. . . . Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.” Eph. 6:11-15.
“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, and publisheth peace.” Isa. 52:7. How often, in describing departures from God, and wanderings into ways of wickedness, the feet are referred to. We have such expressions as these: “Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood.” In setting forth the expanding mercies of God that were upon him, David says, “Thou hast set my feet in a large room;” and, He hath “set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.” Ps. 31:8; 40:2. He also says, “He maketh my feet like hind’s feet, and setteth me upon my high places.” Ps. 18:33.
The snares that are set, are set for the feet; the by and forbidden paths of sin are designed to turn the feet from the right way. It is therefore necessary that the feet should be well equipped, and guarded against all dangers to which they are exposed.
What is said concerning the feet shows that the Christian is designed to be a determined, moving, progressive, active being; the feet are of themselves weak and exposed members. Hence they need to be shod with that which will protect and strengthen them. The road is rough, and cumbered with sharp-pointed stones and piercing thorns; hence the feet need the shoes which grace alone can provide.
Whence come these shoes for Christian feet?—They come alone from Him who provides the whole armor of God. He himself journeyed through life, in its roughest and most dangerous ways, and is well acquainted with the roughest and most severe and perilous stages of the journey. He therefore knows just what we need, and can supply our wants.
The material of which these shoes are made is worthy of attention. They are made of “the preparation of the gospel of peace.” This is most excellent material. It is easy to wear, and marvelously durable. It will wear as long as we have a desire to seek peace and pursue it, and to win the blessing pronounced upon peacemakers. Such an article will be to us the antitype of that of the children of Israel, of whom it is said: “Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing; their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not.” Neh. 9:21.
This passage in Eph. 6:15 has been paraphrased thus: “Shod with the firm footing of the knowledge of the gospel.” The word “preparation” signifies “preparedness,” or “readiness.” 2 Tim. 4:2. “Instant in season, out of season.” So Paul says, in Rom. 1:15: “I am ready to preach the gospel.” This preparedness is well-pleasing to God. “How beautiful are thy feet, with shoes, O prince’s daughter!” Cant. 7:1.
And what is embraced in this peace with which our feet are to be shod?
Peace with God, who is the God of peace, and from whom all peace comes.
Peace as to the past, our sins all being forgiven. Peace as to the present; for the promise is, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee; because he trusteth in thee.” Isa. 26:3. Such a person can rest quietly in the Lord, in the spirit of perfect assurance expressed in the last stanza of a beautiful hymn of trust, as follows:—
“At peace with all the world, dear Lord, and thee, No fears my soul’s unwavering faith can shake; All’s well, whichever side the grave for me The morning light may break.”
Peace for the future; for they look forward to the time when their last enemy, death, shall be destroyed, and they stand on Mount Zion with the Lamb, who will feed them, and lead them to fountains of living waters, and wipe away all tears from their eyes. Here is peace, sure to come, in the presence of which the confused noise of the keenest strife and the loudest and most boisterous carnage of earth sink into insignificance.
In this peace with which our feet are to be shod, there is the peace that accompanies complete submission to the divine mind and will. No feelings of aversion or rebellion rise up against anything that may come to us with conclusive evidence that it is the mind and will of God. We move out cheerfully in harmony with it. But on this point let this precaution be taken, that every one should be convinced of duty in his own mind, for himself, not fall under the control of the convictions of any other mind. It is when one tries to follow the path that others may mark out as duty, while he has no sense of duty on his own part, nor feelings of responsibility of his own, that antagonisms of views and feelings are liable to come in, and trouble and discouragement arise. Know what the mind and will of the Lord is for yourself; then follow your own enlightened convictions of duty.
One shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace will moreover be in perfect harmony with the Word, and in full accord with all its teachings. He will have peace with his own inner self, his conscience, his fears, and his desires; and if he is at peace with all these, if there are no antagonisms here, no troubled conscience, no disturbing fears, no unlawful desires, then his feet are well shod to press on, with cheerfulness and comfort, in the Christian pathway.
This peace will extend to and govern our relation with our brethren, and we shall find ourselves ever inclined to obey the injunction of the apostle to “keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” It will extend to our relation with all mankind: “As much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.” Rom. 12:18. Those thus shod will find themselves equipped for marching, and for all daily duties; and our whole experience is described as “a battle and a march.”
These shoes furnish a sure foothold. With them, we need have no fears of the calamity which David thought had well nigh befallen him when he says, “My steps had well nigh slipped.” They are a good protection by the way. None grow footsore or weary who wear these shoes. They render us wonderfully immune from dangers on the road: “Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.” Ps. 91:13. Those who walk with these shoes find that all their ways are ways of pleasantness, and all their paths are peace.
Their fighting qualities are equal to all their other advantages; for they are really a part of the whole armor of God, every part of which we must have on to be able to stand. With this equipment, these gospel shoes, neither flood nor fire can harm us. Isa. 23:2.
But how many in the world around us are bare-footed. Sinners are unshod. In troubles and trials they are obliged to kick against the pricks. The backslider is slipshod; or he wears tight shoes, which pinch his feet, or thin slippers, which soon wear out. And how many, by neglecting the gospel remedy, become, like Asa, diseased in their feet. 1 Kings 15:23. How many gouty Christians there are in the world! how many with spiritual chilblains! and how many with such troubles as in childhood we used to know as “stone-bruises,” or “stone-boils,” a source of great discomfort and inconvenience. All these difficulties can be remedied by following the gospel prescription.
To be without shoes was, in Israel, a mark of disgrace, as it indicated a loss of inheritance and a state of penury and dependence. Among the first words of welcome to the returning prodigal was the order, “Put . . . shoes on his feet.” The Chinese are said to advertise shoes which enable the wearer to walk on the clouds. What does the gospel promise?—“They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” Isa. 40:31. Wm. Gurnal says, “The gospel shoe will not come on thy foot so long as thy foot is swollen with sinful humors (any unrighteous or unholy practices). These must be purged out by repentance, or thou canst not wear the shoe of peace.”
The Jews were to eat their passover with their loins girded, their shoes on their feet, and their staff in their hand; and all in haste. Ex. 12:11. This foreshows the time and condition we are in at the present day. “Out of Egypt have I called my son.” The time has come for us, that our loins must be girded about, and our shoes on our feet, and our staff in our hands, and we ready for instant obedience to the order to go forward. The New Testament reiterates the same instruction: “Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their Lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately.” Luke 12:35, 36. U. S.