Tag Archives: peace

New Shoes

shoes

For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. Ephesians 6:15

After many years, I finally got some new shoes. I was impressed with how much cushion and support my new shoes have compared to my old, worn-down, worn-out pairs that I had been suffering along with for so long.

It seems funny to me that shoes are mentioned as a vital part of the armor of God in Ephesians 6. Why are shoes so important? They are important because they protect our feet, they keep us balanced and they make us stand firm and ready for the challenges ahead.

Why, then, does the Bible associate shoes with peace? The peace we have with God is like a good pair of shoes because it gives us comfort and support, it gives us confidence that we can move forward in our journey of faith, and it protects from any obstacles in our path to unity with God through Christ.

Think about the peace we have with God whenever you put on your shoes today, and see what impact God’s peace has on your approach to the world.

A Lazy Boy?

recliner

I have a recliner in my living room, and it is the first chair I head to at the end of a hard day of work. I pull the lever to lift up the foot rest and lean back toward the wall, breathing out a heavy sigh.

I find it funny that the company that made my recliner is called La-Z-Boy. Am I a “lazy boy” for using a chair like this? I really don’t think so. I am using the chair as a reward for my hard work. It might be better for me to call a chair like mine a Relaxing Boy or a Comforting Boy.

I am not in the habit of using my chair to avoid work, but to rest from my labor. It is a good thing to rest now and then, of course. God built in a day of rest after creating the whole world after all, and he included a commandment about resting on the Sabbath. Rest is important but should not be done to excess. We as God’s people were not created to just lay around in comfy chairs all day long. We were specially designed to move.

“Go into all the world and proclaim the good news,” Jesus told his disciples (Mark 16:15). “Run with perseverance the race that is set before us,” St. Paul tells us (Hebrews 12:1). “Walk in love, as Christ loved us” Paul advises the Ephesians (Ephesians 5:2). But after going with good news, running with perseverance and walking in love, there is a time for rest. Rest in the comfort that only God can bring through prayer and through peace that passes all understanding. No recliner can ever match reclining in God’s arms.