Introduction:
A. Today we continue our Wholly Devoted Series.
1. We are exploring how to be wholly devoted to God with all that we are and all that we have.
2. Let’s review the two verses that have provided the Scriptural foundation for the series.
a. Jesus said: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” (Mark 12:30)
b. Paul wrote: “Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God…and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness” (Romans 6:13).
3. So far in our series, we have explored what it means to have:
a. A wholly devoted mind.
b. A wholly devoted heart.
c. A wholly devoted tongue.
d. Wholly devoted eyes.
e. Wholly devoted ears.
f. And wholly devoted hands.
4. Lord willing, next week we will conclude our series with wholly devoted knees.
5. Today we want to explore what it means to have wholly devoted feet.
B. So let’s turn our attention to our feet.
1. The story is told of a three-year-old boy who put his shoes on all by himself.
a. His mother noticed that the shoes were on the wrong feet.
b. She said, “Son, your shoes are on the wrong feet.”
c. He looked up at her with a raised brow and said, “Don't kid me, Mom. These are the only feet I got!”
2. How true! These are the only feet we got!
C. And these feet that we have are another amazing part of our bodies.
1. By definition, the foot is an anatomical structure found in many vertebrates.
2. It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion.
3. The human foot and ankle is a strong and complex mechanical structure containing exactly 26 bones, 33 joints, and more than a hundred muscles, tendons, and ligaments.
D. Unlike the hands, that we discussed last week, we don’t use the feet to communicate.
1. But like the hands, our feet have become an important part of our communication through the use of idioms.
2. Listen to a few of the many ways we use feet to communicate about our lives:
a. We talk about getting the foot in the door, and getting off on the wrong foot.
b. We talk about putting our best foot forward, and putting down our foot.
c. We talk about putting our foot in our mouth, and shooting yourself in the foot.
d. We talk about getting back on our feet, landing on our feet, and getting swept off our feet.
e. We talk about getting our feet wet, and jumping in with both feet.
f. So you can see, we talk about our feet a lot!
E. As we turn to Scripture, we notice that the Bible addresses the spiritual importance of our feet.
1. Today, I want us to focus on two aspects of having wholly devoted feet.
I. First, Wholly Devoted Feet are Careful Feet.
A. Listen to an excerpt from Dr. Seuss’ book, “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!, “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go...”
1. We can thank God that He has given us brains in our heads and the freedom to choose for ourselves which way we will go.
2. Free will is a precious gift, but it is also a dangerous one.
3. Unfortunately, we don’t always choose to go in the right direction.
4. Unfortunately, we are not always careful with our steps.
B. When we turn to the book of Proverbs, we see that the wise man, King Solomon, gave a number of warnings to his children about their feet and the direction of their steps.
1. In chapter one, he wrote:
Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction
and do not forsake your mother’s teaching(vs. 8).
10 My son, if sinners entice you,
do not give in to them.
11 If they say, “Come along with us;
let’s lie in wait for someone’s blood,
let’s waylay some harmless soul…
15 my son, do not go along with them,
do not set foot on their paths;
16 for their feet rush into sin…
2. In chapter four, he wrote:
Do not set foot on the path of the wicked
or walk in the way of evil men (vs. 14).
26 Make level paths for your feet
and take only ways that are firm.
27 Do not swerve to the right or the left;
keep your foot from evil.
3. In chapter 5, Solomon warned about getting caught up in adultery. Look at what he wrote:
For the lips of an adulteress drip honey,
and her speech is smoother than oil;
4 but in the end she is bitter as gall,
sharp as a double-edged sword.
5 Her feet go down to death;
her steps lead straight to the grave.
6 She gives no thought to the way of life;
her paths are crooked, but she knows it not.
7 Now then, my sons, listen to me;
do not turn aside from what I say.
8 Keep to a path far from her,
do not go near the door of her house…
4. Solomon gave great advice for all of us.
a. If only we would heed his warnings.
b. If only we would keep our feet off the paths of evil.
c. If only we would take only ways that are firm.
d. If only we would keep to a path far from sin and not go near at all.
5. We can see from all of this how important it is to have careful feet and to guard our steps.
D. Sometimes we talk about “being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
1. When we say that we were in the wrong place at the wrong time, then we are trying to say that when we get into trouble it is not our fault or it was a surprise.
2. But I want us to realize that it is always the wrong time to be in the wrong place.
3. It should not surprise us to find ourselves in sin when we have allowed ourselves to wander into dangerous and evil places.
4. If we spend enough time in bars or at parties where a lot of alcohol and illegal drugs are being used, then we will likely find ourselves getting involved with drugs and alcohol.
5. If we spend enough private time with our girlfriend or boyfriend or fiancé and we begin spending time in their bedroom, then we are going to get into sexual sin.
6. If we allow our feet to take us into places of gambling or gentleman’s clubs or porn shops, then it should be no surprise about the sin we will become involved in.
7. That’s why if we want to be wholly devoted to God, then we must have wholly devoted feet that are careful feet – careful about where they take us.
E. Here are a few Scriptures that will help us have careful feet.
1. Psalm 119:101, “I have kept my feet from every evil path so that I might obey your word.”
2. Psalm 119:105, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.”
3. Psalm 119:133 is a prayer: “Direct my footsteps according to your word; let no sin rule over me.”
4. Proverbs 3:26 is a wonderful promise, “for the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being snared.”
5. So we see from those verses that if we want to have wholly devoted feet that are careful feet, then we need to trust in the Lord and allow God’s Word and prayer to keep us on the right path.
6. So, the first thing we learn is that wholly devoted feet are careful feet.
II. Second, Wholly Devoted Feet are Beautiful Feet.
A. How many of us think of our feet as being beautiful?
1. If you are like me, then we can think of several other words that better describe our feet: like, ugly, smelly or hairy, but certainly not beautiful.
B. The Bible actually describes our feet as beautiful.
1. But when the Bible calls our feet beautiful, it is not talking about our feet being nicely pedicured.
2. Rather, it is describing the fact that our feet can be used for something that is exceedingly valuable.
C. Let’s look at the two verses that describe our feet as beautiful.
1. Isaiah 52:7 says: “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!”
2. The apostle Paul echoes those words in Romans 10, when he wrote:
9 That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. 11 As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” 12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
D. So why does God use our feet as an illustration of the process of evangelism?
1. There is an old poem that rings true, and goes like this:
They will not come, they must be brought.
They will not seek, they must be sought.
They will not learn, they must be taught.
2. The poem focuses on our role in the evangelism process and suggests that we have to put forth the initiative rather than think that we can just sit back and the lost will come to us.
a. Those who know the good news must carry it to others.
3. It is important for us to remember that in Biblical times there were no televisions, telephones, or fax machines. There was no internet or text messaging or twitter.
4. So in order for a person to relay a message they sent messengers, and often those messengers traveled by foot, and some of them even ran on foot to deliver their message.
5. Can you imagine seeing a messenger approaching and wondering if the news was good or bad?
6. Often they would hold their breath until they knew if the news was good news.
7. And if the news was good, then the messenger was the most popular person around – sometimes they even received hugs and kisses, and people would say that the messenger’s feet were beautiful.
E. As you know, there is so much bad news in the world.
1. Bad news certainly travels fast.
2. The news media has figured out that bad news sells.
3. It is not the news media’s fault that people are more interested in stories of war, terrorism, murder, rape and abductions, rather than stories of joy, good Samaritans and happy endings.
a. I hear that there’s a saying in the news business: “If it bleeds, it leads.”
b. Which means the more awful and shocking the story, the higher priority and more air time it is given.
F. In contrast to that are the beautiful feet that bring a completely different kind of news.
1. It is no coincidence that the news about Jesus has always been called the Gospel or good news.
2. When the angels appeared to the shepherds at the time of Jesus’ birth, the angel said, “I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” (Lk. 2:10-11)
3. The Gospel is the good news of Jesus.
a. It is the story of God entering our world to become the sacrifice for our sins.
b. All of us are sinners and are helpless to save ourselves from God’s judgment.
c. But the good news is that if we put our trust in Jesus and offer our lives to Him, then our sins are forgiven and we are given the gift of eternal life, which means that we will spend an eternity with God in heaven.
4. Don’t you think that is some pretty good news? Wouldn’t you call it great news?!
5. That’s the kind of news that we should be happy to share with others.
G. If any of us were to discover the cure to cancer, don’t you think we would consider it news worth sharing?
1. Well, in Christ, we have found better news than a cure for a physical problem, we have found the cure for all our spiritual problems.
2. The cure for cancer might give someone 20 or 30 more years of physical life.
3. But the good news of Jesus will give them an eternity of spiritual life.
H. Unfortunately, not everyone wants to hear the good news that we might offer, whether it has to do with physical things or spiritual things.
1. Have you ever tried to suggest to someone that they would live longer if they quit smoking, changed their diet, and got a little more exercise?
a. Even though that is the prescription for a healthier and longer life, which should be good news, not everyone wants to hear it.
2. The same is true with the spiritual good news.
a. People might like the idea of eternal life and the forgiveness of their sins, but they might not want to hear that it has to do with Jesus and becoming a follower of Christ.
I. Nevertheless, we are called to be witnesses for Christ.
1. We are called to be His ambassadors.
2. Paul said it this way: All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God (2 Cor. 5:18-20).
3. This has been God’s plan since the beginning of Christianity, and it is still God’s plan today.
4. Jesus said that He is the light of the world, and then told us that we are the light of the world, because we are supposed to reflect Him.
5. We are Christ’s representatives; His Ambassadors, and we deliver the good news on foot.
J. It is more critical that we use our feet to carry the good news now than it has been in a long time for we are living in what is called the “post-modern” or “post-Christian” world.
1. What is meant by that we are living in a time here in America and Europe where personal world views, ideologies, religious movements and societies are no longer rooted in the knowledge, language and assumptions of Christianity.
2. A generation is growing up today that doesn’t know as much about Jesus as previous generations.
3. This was illustrated in a recent movie called “Super-Size Me,” which is about the fast-food industry.
a. But in that movie a group of children were shown a picture of Mickey Mouse, and most of them were able to identify Disney’s most prominent cartoon character.
b. Then they were shown a picture of Ronald McDonald, and all the children knew who he was.
c. Last of all, they were shown the typical picture of “Jesus” that hangs in many Sunday school classrooms, and none of the children were able to identify that it was Jesus.
4. How sad is that! A generation of children know more about Mickey Mouse and Ronald McDonald than about Jesus!
K. So our world is in desperate need of the good news of Jesus.
1. The question for us is what are you and I doing to bring the good news to those around us in our daily lives?
2. Paul Little in his classic book, “How to Give Away Your Faith” defines witnessing this way: “Witnessing is that deep-seated conviction that the greatest favor I can do for others is to introduce them to Jesus Christ.”
3. Do we really believe that that is the greatest favor we can do for others?
4. Do we really believe that the story of Jesus is the greatest news we can share with others?
L. Studies have shown over and over again, that the most effective method for evangelism is a friend or relative giving an invitation to a friend or relative.
1. When people are asked the question: “What was responsible for your coming to Christ and this church,” 79% of the people say, “a friend or relative invited me.”
2. Two weeks from today we are going to have our annual Friend Day, and I want to encourage every one of us to try to bring a friend or relative that day.
3. One of the best ways to use our feet is to carry the good news to others; to carry the invitation to come learn about Jesus.
4. Wholly devoted feet are beautiful feet because they are busy sharing the Gospel of Jesus with others.
5. But how sad to think that we would not use our feet for this purpose.
a. How sad to think that we would go through life knowing about the good news of Jesus, but not share it with others!
b. How sad that year after year would pass and we would not be able to point to anyone who has become a Christian because we pointed them to Christ.
6. But consider the opposite: how wonderful to be a part of God’s ministry of reconciliation.
a. How wonderful it is to help others be saved!
7. And how wonderful to realize how quickly the world can be won to Christ if each one of us would help just one person a year to come to Christ – Each 1, Reach 1.
a. If each one of us reach one soul a year, and if our converts did the same, then the number of souls that would be saved in 10 years through just my efforts and my converts efforts would be 512.
b. And 10 years after that, the number would be over 500,000.
8. Our church would double in size every year, if each one of us helped just one person to come to Christ each year.
M. So how can each of us begin to develop beautiful feet?
1. We can make a list of people with whom we would like to share Jesus.
2. We can pray for these people each day.
3. We can look for ways to demonstrate the love of Jesus with them.
4. We can look for ways to periodically talk about Jesus with them and invite them to Bible studies or worship services.
Conclusion:
A. Several times during this series we have been reminded of the children’s song “Oh, Be Careful.”
1. Oh, be careful little eyes what you see.
2. Oh, be careful little ears what you hear.
3. Oh, be careful little mouth what you say.
4. Oh, be careful little hands what you do.
5. And, Oh, be careful little feet where you go.
B. With God’s help we can have feet that are wholly devoted to Him.
1. First of all, wholly devoted feet are feet that are devoted to being careful about where they go.
a. They are careful to stay on the right path, and careful to avoid the path of evil.
b. Casting Crowns has a song called “Slow Fade” and one of the lines goes, “Be careful little feet where you go, For it's the little feet behind you that are sure to follow.”
c. That’s another good reason to keep our feet on the right path.
2. And second, wholly devoted feet are feet that are devoted to being beautiful feet because they bring the good news to others.
C. May God help us to have wholly devoted feet.
D. And remember: they are the only feet you got!
1. Take good care of them!
2. Use them well!
Resources:
Sandal of the Preparation of the Gospel of Peace, Sermon by Scott Coltrain, SermonCentral.com
How Beautiful Are Your Feet?, Sermon by Kenneth Sauer, SermonCentral.com
