If the shoe fits… is the gospel of Christ really a fit for you?

Do you remember the very first thing you wanted so badly you scrimped and saved for it?  You calculated the cost. You estimated how long it would take to save. You were determined and you were willing to sacrifice to make it happen. It was an exciting feeling in the moment you realized you had saved enough. 

What was it you saved for?  I read a scripture this week that caused me to jog my memory. 

For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?

Luke 14:28

 It didn’t take me long to figure out what it was for me. A pair of shoes. 

One pair of church shoes, one pair of school shoes. That is what you would find if you looked in my childhood closet. Well, sometimes you would find just one shoe instead of a pair. Those mornings I was left with the horror of wearing running shoes with my church dress. 

Shoes were always a drama for me. While everyone else in the 4th grade wore a dainty size 6, I had to wear a size 10.   It would have been a size 9.5 but back then every shoemaker in the world assumed all girls had narrow feet. In order to cram my wide foot into a shoe I had to go up a size and even then I couldn’t wear the cute shoes I saw on my class mates’ feet. 

I would have told my younger self not to sweat it. It is great being tall and I swear having wide feet gives me amazing balance as a yoga instructor, more surface area to balance on ya know;)

Alas, my dreams of being a foot model were never to be. I first realized this when my only pair of shoes broke during a bout of the chicken pox. I had to sit out in the car in front of Payless Shoes as my mom brought box after box of shoes for me to try on. Nothing would fit the width of my foot. We almost went home with nothing.

Another time my dad, who was an electrician, came home with a “genius” gift for us. My dad was known for, let’s say, creative solutions to saving a buck. We were all in need of new shoes so we were excited when he announced his gift was just that. Then he pulled out the ugliest grandpa white shoes I’ve ever seen. No offense grandpas. They had “Summit Electric” embroidered across the side, and don’t worry, he had one pair in every single size for us! Yippie!  They had to be free because no one would pay to wear those shoes, neither could you pay me to wear them.

It didn’t seem to bother my brothers too much, but I burst into tears. Come on!  I was a little girl, could the word at least have been in pink instead of brown?  This was the one time I was actually relieved none of the shoes fit. 

Because the shoes were duplicates and in so many sizes my brothers still laugh at how they would often wear shoes in two different sizes because that was all they could find as they ran out the door to school.  I can still see that big pile of identical shoes in our entry way. My brothers were lucky if they at least found one left and one right shoe. 

I learned to live with the fact that my shoes would never fit quite right, until I found out about Doc Martens that is. Is it any surprise that the first thing I wanted to save my money for when I got a job was a pair of shoes that didn’t hurt my feet? By the time I was a teenager I had shoved my feet into so many ill fitting shoes, not to mention soccer cleats and toe shoes, that I would need surgery to remove the scar tissue that had formed in between the bones in my toes. 

I couldn’t blame my parents for never spending more than $15 on a pair of shoes. With all the children they adopted they had 30 feet in their home to cover with shoes. Most the time we just wore what was given to us by kind members of the community. 

When my friend made me stop in a shoe store at the mall and try on Doc Martens I knew I would do anything to get a pair, even if they were $110. I worked, saved, and I still remember exactly what I was wearing and where I went to get my first pair of shoes that fit.  It was hard handing over the money because I had never spent that much on anything. My upbringing made me incredibly frugal.  I thought of how many pairs of cheaper shoes I could buy with that money, but why spend any more money on something that wouldn’t fit? It was worth every penny. I wore those shoes for years. 

A few years ago I finally had to replace of my entire closet full of shoes. Not that it was a huge selection, by default I am not a shoe person. But, I had come up with a pretty cute collection despite my foot woes.   With the threat of another surgery on my feet I had to accept that I could only wear shoes that were good for my feet, AKA expensive and certainly not dainty.  It was painful giving all my shoes away but my sister-in-law didn’t seem to mind.

No, I didn’t want to sit here and just tell you about shoes.  Remember, I started thinking about all this because of a scripture I read this week. It is one I’ve never really noticed let alone understood before. 

For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?

Luke 14:28

This scripture comes right after the Savior has tried to explain the cost of discipleship. He gave the parable of the great feast where those asked to join gave silly excuses instead of accept the invitation. They weren’t willing to make the necessary sacrifices to be His disciples. 

We are asked to “take up your cross” which is to be willing to give our life to Christ just as He gave His life for us. To be a disciple we are asked to love Him more than anyone including loving Him more than we love our own lives. This means giving things up in our lives that we really love.  Anyone ready to sell off worthless ways that have taken on too much value?    

Are you figuratively wearing shoes that don’t quite fit because you are afraid to pay more?

It may be scary at first, but If there was ever a shoe that fits any person who chooses to try it on, it is the gospel of Jesus Christ. AND If the shoe fits, wear it!!! 

We put the shoe on and it is the most comfortable shoe we’ve ever worn, comfortable until we realize the cost that is. Is the shoe worth it?  We say we want the shoe but we don’t stop to consider all we would we have to give to wear it.  What sacrifices would we have to make?  No matter how perfectly the shoe fits over time we start to make excuses as to why we can’t afford it anymore. Our commitment fades.  

OR. Do we take our entire closet of old shoes and throw them out?  Do we determine to be worthy to wear the only shoe that will bring us true joy?  To give whatever it takes?

Like anything we desire in life we must stop and count, determine the cost of the path we hope to take. It is the ONLY way we will make it to our destination. This is what the Lord is asking us to do in Luke 14 Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish. vs.29-30

And this He said, signifying there should not any man follow him, unless he was able to continue. JST

Have you calculated the cost and committed to paying it no matter what?  Truly, what are you willing to sacrifice to continue in Christ?  Wealth? Popularity? Pride? Entertainment? Time? “Fun?” Ease?  Comfort?   The cost may be high but the cost is higher when we settle for something that will never quit fit.

I guess I just gave a whole new meaning to,  And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Ephesians 6:15 ????

Wear them shoes my friends!

Thank you for sharing this if you enjoyed it! What have you given up to have the gospel in your life? I’d love to hear from you.