Putting On Your Soul Shoes

How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!
–Romans 10:15

Herb Kelleher, the founder of Southwest Airlines, was once asked about his secret for success. He said, “I can teach you the secret to running this airline in thirty seconds. This is it: Southwest is the low-fare airline. Not a low-fare airline. We are THE low-fare airline. Once you understand that fact, you can make any decision about this company’s future as well as I can. Here’s an example. Tracy from marketing comes into your office. She says her surveys indicate that the passengers might enjoy a light entrée on the Houston to Las Vegas flight. All we offer is peanuts, and she thinks a nice chicken Caesar salad would be popular. What do you say?” The interviewer hesitated, so Kelleher went on. “You say, ‘Tracy, will adding that chicken Caesar salad make us THE low-fare airline from Houston to Las Vegas? Because if it doesn’t help us become the unchallenged low-fare airline, we’re not serving any [blankety-blank] chicken salad.’”

Understanding your purpose is key to success in the business world. But understanding your purpose is also key to success in the spiritual world. As we will learn this week, understanding your purpose is a powerful way to defeat Satan’s plan to destroy your life. In our series on spiritual warfare, we have reached the third piece of armor in our inventory. Paul wrote in Ephesians 6:14-15, “Stand firm therefore . . . having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace.” After the belt and the breastplate, Paul talked the right shoes. In Paul’s day, shoes were more than just a fashion statement. In a culture where everybody walked everywhere, the right shoes were essential for everyday life. The same was certainly true for soldiers. The Roman soldier wore a thick-soled shoe that protected his feet from any sharp sticks or stones the enemy had placed underneath the topsoil. The shoe also had pieces of metal protruding from it to give the soldier traction and stability. The right boots were essential for success in warfare.

What does it mean for Christians to put on the right spiritual boots? Consider Paul’s words in Romans 10:14-15: “How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!’” How is the message of Jesus Christ going to be spread to unbelievers? By preachers moving their feet to take the gospel across the world. And Paul was not talking about paid professionals here; he was talking about anyone who proclaims the message of Christ. So for a Christian, having the right spiritual boots means having the ability and willingness to share the good news of Christ with other people–because, as we are going to learn this week, that is our purpose.

Today’s devotion is excerpted from “Putting On Your Soul Shoes” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2011.

Herb Kelleher, as quoted in James Carville and Paul Begala, “Buck Up, Suck Up . . . And Come Back When You Foul Up” (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2003), 88.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org