DaySpring Daily Word of Inspiration: Isaiah 52:7 – How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!”
What kind of feet do you have? Now of course this may catch you a bit off guard, but I want you to consider this carefully. We come into many situations in our lives with feet that have tred the hottest ground. Feet that are weary, which have been ran through the ringer. We have feet that are filthy, muddy and damaged. We have feet that are shameful to behold. And many times our feet are exposed for many to see, ridicule and be disgusted by. How does this look in real life? I’m so glad you asked.
In our daily lives, we are subject to the hurts of this world. We take these very experiences of our lives into every relationship, household, job, school, and situation we encounter. Our bad attitudes, negative talk, hurtful joking, jealous demeanors, slanderous intentions and deliberate acts of revenge destroy us. From the inside out, we may believe that everything is great but from the outside looking in, we have filthy feet; wherever we go, people aren’t happy to see us. People look at you with contempt, displeasure, shame, empathy, and despair because what you bring; better yet, what you “stand on” is dirty and nasty. There isn’t anything good that can be seen from you because you’re not offering others anything that is a reflection of hope or providence. It is soiled; damaged by the trials, distractions, and harmful experiences of life; the journey your feet have taken. There is no victory in the way you speak, act, treat others, or how you carry yourself. Your feet are tarnished and others are more turned off by them (your conduct) than led to anything of substance. Your story’s journey is just like everyone else’s, plagued with defeat.
However, what if there was a better story you could provide for someone! What if your presentation after your journey could inspire someone? Would the journey be worth-while for you? Our scripture today gives us some insight to that very fact. What is it that you have to bring when you come into situations or circumstances? We’ve looked at one side of the shoe but what about the other? What about the person whose feet come refreshed? Those who have traveled a great distance but have the story of a lifetime to tell; the feet of those who were hurt, who were afflicted, who were dirty and trampled on but got washed, cared for, tended to and restored. What solid ground to stand on!
This translates to our lives in while we are going to be hurt, we have been damaged, and we were ready to give up, someone came and took care of our feet. Thank you Jesus! He changed our prospective about the journey. He gave us hope, desire to continue and strength to weather whatever our feet would experience. He gave us something to talk about; good news to share with others! We changed the way we thought, the way we spoke, how we act, where we go, and how we treated others on our journey. We showed gratitude to Him who cared for us, picked up back up, washed our feet and helped us carry on. Most importantly, we told others about the goodness we found on our journey, how others feet can be healed too if they’d change their course, accepted the care He could give, and shared that goodness they received with others.
God treats us this way. If we’ve journeyed with Christ in our lives, we should have a great story to bring to others and when we come around our feet should be something people inquire about! Our outlook on life, our conduct and our joy leads to being able to present the good news about our long journey Christ and why our feet are more refined, less abused and all cleaned up. What are you bringing into your various situations and trials in life? Are your feet bringing bad news of life’s journey or the good news about your helper (Jesus Christ) who was with you along your way? If you’re walking with Christ, you bring something beautiful to everywhere you go. People need to know why you seem different, even after such a long, tough, and discouraging journey. Present Christ in those moments, it may change someone’s journey forever! In Jesus’ name, AMEN!