How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things.
Romans 10:15b NKJV
This past Lenten season, as I read one of my favorite devotional guides, the one about Peter’s Feet snagged my imagination a little more than in years past so I set it aside in my resource folder thinking it might offer some good points for one of my pieces somewhere along the line. I’ve glanced at it a few times since, but the timing just wasn’t right. Pastor Dennis, however, lit a spark last Sunday when he focused in on the importance of feet. Once home, I pulled up my folder and began to gnaw on the topic a bit.
Of course, I’ve had reason to think about feet lately as my normal mobility has been impaired, and It’s hit home just how precious those feet of ours really are. We humans are typically born with two while the majority of animals have four, but some critters possess as many as six or eight. Imagine having to buy eight shoes for each of your children at the beginning of school. I think I’m grateful we only have two feet. The internet experts differ slightly but seem to agree that the average eighty-year-old human will have walked between 75,000 and 100,000 miles in a lifetime. That’s a lot of blisters and callouses and very tired feet. We punish them unmercifully by wearing shoes that are improperly sized or aren’t built for the purpose we are using them. We push through the pain and just keep going. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who thinks their feet are attractive. They’re just two overlooked and unattractive appendages that take us from place to place, activity to activity, in our daily lives.
Our four-footed friends are just as hard on their feet. Think about the horses of the American west carrying people and goods and mail to unexplored areas where danger lurked around every bend in the trail. Goodness, how their feet must have suffered. And how about camels traversing the scorching desert or the huskies of the Yukon? So many types of feet work very hard to get us to our destinations, deliver our goods, and carry us on dangerous adventures or the exploration of earth’s wonders. And we mustn’t forget the rigors of bodily exercise that keep us healthy. Regardless of their rather nondescript appearance, feet play a vital role in our lives and we would do well to take better care of them than we do.
How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the messenger who brings good news, the good news of peace and salvation, the news that the God of Israel reigns. Isaiah 52:7 NLT
I think God’s Word may have been speaking metaphorically here. Before venturing into indigenous villages high in the Andes Mountains or on the African desert or in the seemingly unreachable parts of our own country, “messengers” must train in the rigors of the lifestyles they will inhabit. They must be physically, mentally, and spiritually prepared to bring the “Good News” to people who may not have ever heard the name of Jesus. Their literal feet will have traveled countless miles in preparation before they hit the ground running and the beauty of their metaphorical feet becomes fruitful.
I’m grateful for those whose literal or metaphorical feet travel to the far corners of the earth to bring the message of God’s love and faithfulness, but not all of us can do that. Hear this though, even those of us whose feet are absent or not working correctly have metaphorically beautiful feet to bring the “Good News” to those in need of hearing. Our feet can be present in a classroom of children searching for meaning in their lives. Our feet can serve a healthy meal to hungry souls without the means to provide food on their own. Our feet can bring or send bottled water and prepared foods to disaster-ravaged countries and disaster areas in our own country. Our feet can send school supplies to places where classrooms are no more than a rudimentary structure or a tent or perhaps even just the shade of a tree. Our feet can bring the promise of hope to a hurting world.
We are blessed beyond measure and when we think there is nothing more we can do, we just need to open our eyes, ears, and hearts, then put our feet to work. Our “feet”, virtual or metaphorical, can always bring the beauty of hope to someone, somewhere…..maybe right next door.
How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news. Romans 10:15b NLT
