“And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!” (Romans 10:15, KJV 1900)
For many, perhaps most of us, we would not consider our feet to be something that would win a beauty contest. The wear and tear of age, miss-fitting shoes, broken toes, calluses, split toenails, and etcetera have taken those nice baby feet we were born with and turned them into something else.
A preacher many years ago, and I cannot remember who it was, spoke of a pioneer missionary who diligently worked to take the gospel to an unknown people group. He would do so by walking through the remote regions for days to get to a village where the name of Jesus was unknown. His sole desire was to take the good news to a people who had never heard.
In his journey, the rough trail, wet feet, and the constant rubbing of the feet in the shoes, created blisters and sores. By the time this missionary was done with one of these journeys and took off his socks and shoes, the preacher indicated that his feet were a dirty and ugly mess. But were they really?
On the contrary, God says that this missionary’s feet were not ugly, but beautiful. We read about it here as Paul quotes from the Old Testament, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; That bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; That saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!” (Isaiah 52:7, KJV 1900)
Like I said, I do not remember who preached this story and who the missionary was. However, this truth remains. God says that those who bring the good news to others have beautiful feet. I want you to consider this when you put you shoes and socks on, or anytime you look at your feet.
Renewing the Heart 