July 02, 2026 | Be Connected
LAST WEEK BEFORE SUMMER HIATUS:
BE CONNECTED RESUMES AUGUST 3
The Armor of God
Scripture: Ephesians 6:13-17(NIV)
13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Devotional
In 1981, my husband, Keith and I went to Denmark with our friends from Ball State, Tony and Cheri Huffer. Tony had answered an ad from Youth for Christ/Denmark for “guest English teachers/singers” to travel around the country singing in public schools. The Huffers asked us to form a foursome and join them the second year. Tony is an excellent songwriter, so we went armed with many original Christian songs and a few written by others. We made close to 100 school visits that year.
One of our most requested songs was “Travelin’ Shoes”, a catchy a capella tune which students and adults loved. It was a few verses about death knocking on the door to ask a sinner, gambler, liar and then finally a Christian if they were “ready to go”. Three “No’s” were followed by a joyful “YES, YES, YES!” The three sinners sang: “I ain’t got on my travelin’ shoes” and the Christian sang “YES! Because I just got on my travelin’ shoes!” In today’s passage about the full armor of God, I’m going to focus on the feet. Good shoes are an essential part of God’s armor.
I don’t think the kids liked the song because they were thinking about death and whether or not they would be ready when it came knocking, but it was musically dynamic and lively and after singing it 400 times, it was well-executed—opening the door for us to talk to them after the school visit at weekend concerts and openly share the Gospel and offer an invitation to follow Jesus. (And of course, explain that the “Travelin’ Shoes” represented the Gospel of peace with the message of salvation and why they needed to get them on before death knocked on the door.)
This was a wonderful time in our young lives as we were literally putting on our traveling shoes and going all the way across the ocean to share the Gospel with young students. I love the verse, “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who brings good news” (Isaiah 52:7).
Today’s verse urges us to put on the full armor of God (not just the shoes of the Gospel of peace), but the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit. This is a powerful metaphor for equipping ourselves by choosing the proper attire— to make sure we are ready to go…whether it’s our time to enter into glory or to share this good news about Jesus with others.
What are you going to wear today? Do you have on your “Travelin’ Shoes?”
