Shoes of Peace
Ephesians 6:15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.
The next piece of equipment are shoes. The Roman soldier wore interesting shoes. They were both an offensive and defensive weapon. The shoes came in two parts. One part protected their knees down to their ankles to keep them from being injured and put out of the battle. The second part were the actual shoes, and these shoes were “killer” shoes. On the bottom of these shoes were spikes to finish off a fallen enemy and keep them under their feet so they could not rise back up. These spikes also helped them maintain their balance in hard terrain. The thing you and I are to get from this is that the same thing these shoes did for the Roman soldier, these shoes of peace will do for us. Peace is also two parts. The first part is peace with God, and the second part is the peace of God. You can’t have the peace of God without having peace with God.
Let’s look at peace with God. Romans 10:15 (NKJV) says, “And how shall they preach unless they be sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things.’” They preached the gospel of peace. What is that? That you can have peace with God. Ephesians 2:14-15 says, “For He is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of partition between us; having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace.” We were separated from God; but when Jesus was crucified, the veil in the temple was torn from top to bottom, so now we have access to God. The Jews, and all the other people groups on the Earth, are no longer at odds with one another in Christ Jesus because that enmity has been done away with. Isaiah 53:5 (AMPC) says, “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our guilt and iniquities; the chastisement [needful to obtain] peace and well-being for us was upon Him, and with the stripes [that wounded] Him we are healed and made whole.” He took all the chastisement, everything they did to Him, pulling out his beard, beating Him, mocking Him, and everything else, for our peace. Jesus took that chastisement so you could have peace with God.
The next part of the shoes is the peace of God. Once you have peace with God, the peace of God is available for you to walk in. Jesus said this in John 14:27 (NKJV), “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” John 16:33 says, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me you might have peace. In the world you shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” Jesus said that in the world you would have some trouble or tribulation. He also warned us not to accept the world’s kind of peace, a peace that is circumstantial. He said that He left us the very peace that He walked in, the very peace He used to calm the storm when He said, “Peace be still,” and the storm calmed right down. He told us not to be afraid.
Fear is a faith killer; just ask Peter. Remember, he was walking on the water and then, turned his attention from following Jesus to putting his eyes and senses on the wind and the waves. When he did that, the Word says, “He became afraid.” Fear caused his faith to quit working. Jesus is telling us to walk in the peace that He gave us and not to allow any fear in our life. Fear will cause our armor arrayed against the devil not to work. Peace is vital to your faith; we must resist the devil steadfast in the faith. Jesus told us to cheer up and understand that He has overcome the devil, the god of this world and this world’s system. We should be walking in joy and peace, the very peace Jesus left us. These shoes are beautiful; they are shoes of peace. The God of all peace sends us forth to tell others of this peace with Him; and, at the same time, these shoes cause us to conquer our enemy. So, wear these shoes!