We are going to continue looking at the armor of God from Ephesians 6. The
first week I talked about the importance of making sure that the Christian
warrior puts the belt of truth on so that they do not trip in battle. Last week
we looked at the significance of the Christian warrior wearing the breastplate
of righteousness and how it protects us from the attacks of the evil one. This
week we are going to look at the third piece of armor, the sandals of peace.
This is an interesting piece of armor as I
believe Paul is talking more about what is left behind the warrior rather than
what the warrior needs in the heat of battle. Take a step back: “What is left
behind when an army marches through?” or another way to ask is, “What
footprints do most armies leave behind?” The answer is chaos and destruction.
Most armies, when they march through, leave nothing but death and destruction
behind — their footmark is horror and chaos. However, this is not the case for
Christians. For the Christian warrior, they are to leave peace behind — their
footmark is the peace of Christ. Paul is saying that Christian warriors should
create peace everywhere they go, not because of who they are but because of who
they carry with them, namely Jesus Christ.
So, the question that I leave you with is, “Do
you leave peace behind?” “When you get involved in situations, do things get
more chaotic, or do you bring the peace of Christ with you?” We as Christian
warriors have been called to step into the chaos of this world and to bring the
peace of Christ with us.
Jonathan Naylor Assistant Pastor at Mount Pleasant Methodist Church
