Do you make resolutions for the new year? If you do, you are certainly not alone. According to Forbes magazine as many as 45% of Americans make promises of change for the coming year. For perspective, the Super Bowl, the most watched television event – the one that drives commercials and spending in unimaginable ways – draws only about a third of all Americans. While resolutions are on our minds, they aren’t always in our hearts. This year, instead of thinking about resolutions, let’s think about how God prepares us for this year’s journey by fitting us with right kind of shoes – sometimes even iron shoes.
What are the most relentlessly promised resolutions? According to the Journal of Clinical Psychology published by the University of Scranton, the top ten resolutions, in order, are losing weight, getting organized, spending less and saving more money, enjoying life to the fullest, staying fit and healthy, learning something new and exciting, quitting smoking, helping others achieve their dreams, falling in love and spending more time with the family.
But for all our good intentions, the same study reveals that only about 8% actually keep the resolution for more than six months. Why do so many fail at goal-setting and keeping? More importantly – are there keys for success shared by the 8%?
I have resolved that this year I will make no resolutions. Let me tell you a story that got me thinking.
Not too long ago, I needed to buy a new pair of tennis shoes.
I went down to the shoe store and told the clerk I needed tennis shoes. He said, “What kind of tennis shoes do you need?” He was right. There were all kinds of tennis shoes. There were tennis shoes for baseball, cross country, track, basketball, biking and working out. There were even tennis shoes for tennis. I had to know what kind of tennis shoes I needed.
What kind of shoes are you wearing? It kind of depends on what you are planning to do, doesn’t it? The matter of shoes is important. Our shoes help prepare us for the task.
God prepares us for a task by providing us with the right kind of shoes.
We are going to start the year by remembering a very simple lesson. God prepares us for a task by providing us with the right kind of shoes. Would you believe that there are times that He provides us with iron shoes?
There is an obscure passage of Scripture in the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy that deserves our attention for the next few weeks. It is a verse that is not easily translated. The passage of Scripture is Deuteronomy 33:25. The New International Version translates it this way:
The bolts of your gates will be iron and bronze, and your strength will equal your days.
Many of the translations of the Bible give it a similar flavor. But look at how the New King James Version translates the verse. “Your sandals shall be iron and bronze; As your days, so shall your strength be.”
The truth is either translation is appropriate. The question is, in context which makes the most sense? The Hebrew language is made up of only consonants. The vowels come from the context and traditions of the oral language. Just like the English consonants “R” and “D” could produce “red” or “read” – two very different concepts, the same is true in the Hebrew language.
Oswald Chambers, author of several devotional books including “My Utmost for His Highest,” writes, “Every path that leads to heaven is trodden by willing feet. No one is ever driven to paradise. The real test of a saint is not one’s willingness to preach the gospel, but one’s willingness to do something like washing feet – that is, being willing to do those things which seem unimportant but count as everything do God.”
As I look into 2018, I wonder what has God prepared my feet to do. I am reminded of three lessons.
First, God is always strengthening my feet. One of my favorite verses of scripture is a small verse in a small book from a minor prophet, Habakkuk. “The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights” (Habakkuk 3:19 NIV). The concept of God making our feet like the feet of a deer is common in the Old Testament (2 Samuel 22:32-35; Psalm 18:33-36, Psalm 121:2-5, etc.).
God makes our feet like the feet of a hind. A hind is a red female deer and is the most sure-footed mountain animal in all of God’s creation. Hind’s feet are skinny, and as such can move effortlessly through rough and steep mountainous terrain without stumbling. God equips us to overcome adversity and difficult roadblocks. Though the situation may seem rocky, the Lord will equip you so that you don’t stumble and that you press on your journey with consistency.
Second, my greatest task is to share the story of the Gospel with my own words. Interestingly, when we are told that our feet become like deer in the mountains, and that God will not let our foot slip – and that He watches over us night and day, we are told also 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” (Isaiah 52:7)!
Finally, God provides you with shoes for battle, sometimes even iron shoes. Your job includes doing battle with the devil. Paul says it like this, Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one (Ephesians 6:14-16 NIV).
No need for resolutions for this year. Look at how God is preparing your feet. But never forget: sometimes we need iron shoes.
