What kind of shoes are you wearing these days? Work boots or sandals, in the garden or on a road trip, water shoes or flip flops to the beach, fancy shoes for a night out with friends or a date? There’s lots of options. We choose our shoes with purpose for the occasion. The prophet Nahum draws our attention to some purposeful feet in 1:15. “Look, there on the mountains, the feet of one who brings good news, who proclaims peace!” This would be a messenger coming across the hills to proclaim the good news of Nahum’s day: the wicked city of Nineveh had fallen and the Assyrian empire was collapsing! Truly, it was good news to everyone in that day, for in regards to Assyria Nahum writes, “who has not felt your endless cruelty?” (3:19) Reading Nahum helps us understand why Jonah didn’t want to go to Nineveh in the first place. So the feet of the messenger proclaiming peace and good news are welcomed! Yet if we know our Bible and a bit of world history, we know this good news is short lived. The very next book of the Bible, Habakkuk, speaks of the rise of Babylon. Assyria fell to Babylon, and it wouldn’t be long before the Babylonians would overthrow Jerusalem and the kingdom of Judah. This good news, while true, is short-lived! Yet when we read Nahum 1:15, it ought to sound similar to a passage that is more familiar. When the Apostle Paul was writing to the church in Ephesus, he wrote about the “armor of God,” a description of how believers were to stand firm in times of trial, temption, and tribulation. If you’re following the crucified and resurrected Christ, you must have “your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.” (Ephesians 6:15) It’s not a coincidence that the wording is similar: Paul knew his Old Testament better than most of us, maybe all of us! He draws the imagery from Nahum, the messenger whose feet bring tidings of peace. Yet in Nahum, it’s so short-lived and temporary. It depends on a worldly power falling, but then another takes its place. Ephesians upgrades the peace offered in Nahum. True, eternal, and everlasting peace is from the good news of Christ’s resurrection. This is what needs to be on our feet, the shoes we wear with intentionality and purpose. There is plenty of lesser “good news” in the world, and we should be people who eagerly share good news. But we must remember it is often fleeting and short-lived, even when true. The Good News is found in Christ, and this will not expire, grow old, or wear out like a pair of shoes. What kind of shoes are you wearing these days? - Pastor Steven