Peace (part 3)

Our ongoing theme of peace continues....Maw Maw shared her devotions with me this morning and they were both on....peace!
This one especially spoke to me:
"Strap on Your Boots of Peace"
...shod your feet in preparation {to face the enemy with the firm-footed stability, the promptness, and the readiness produced by the good news} of the Gospel of peace...Eph. 6:15 (amplified version)

Peace is a powerful force. It's not just a puffy cloud-like thing. It's not just soft and sweet like spring rain or whispers or candle light. It's strong and hefty. As Col. 3:15 says, peace rules! (How could a puffy cloud rule anything?) Peace garrisons and mounts guard over your heart and mind. It's lke a bodyguard. It has muscles.

That's why the apostle Paul instructs us to put on peace as a part of God's whole armor so that we may be able to successfully stand against all the strategies and deceits of the Devil. Before I understood the true nature of God's peace,  I couldn't see how it could possibly be considered armor. I would read in Ephesians six about things like the breastplate of righteousness, athe helmet of salvation and shield of faith, and I could easily envision  those things as being the strong pieces of armor that Roman soldiers wore. But the verse about peace puzzled me.

I'd think, Here's this soldier all outfitted in his military attire of breass and wood and leather, and now he is going to put on these little soft bedroom slippers of peace? That just didn't seem to fit. So I did some investigating into what kind of shoes Roman soldiers actually wore - and it turned out, they weren't bedroom slippers!

From the knee to the foot, they were solid brass, strong enought to protect a soldier's legs from any kind of lacerations or bruises. They were so sturdy and impenetrable that they enabled the Roman infantry to march over rocky or thorny terrain without injury.

That's what the peace of God does for us. It makes us able to go on dangerous missions for the Lord without suffering harm. It helps us forge our way throught the rockiest situation without injury.

No wonder Paul says we're to be shod with it! The word "shod" means to fasten on very tighttly. We don't ever want to wear our peace boots loosely. We want to wrap God's peace around us so tightly that no thorn or stone of the enemy can wedge its way in. Through prayer put on the force of peace and allow God to win great victories in your life.
Scripture reading: Eph. 6:10-18