SHOES AND SANDALS...A CALL TO HOLINESS

Growing-up, it used to be fun and interesting to pretend to be Dad by slipping into his shoes. Somehow, sliding into his dress shoes transformed my mind, attitude and responsibilities. If only for a split second, I pretended to make the decisions. 

It wasn't long before my Dad would smile and notice whose shoes I was wearing and question, "Son, don't you think my shoes are little too big for you? Kinda hard getting around in them, isn't it?" I would say yes, take them off and return them to his room. Dad's question and observation were not to point out that I was doing something "Wrong", but that those shoes were not meant for me right then. In truth, I was out-sized, out-classed, out-lived and rushing things a bit.

I have tried to do this in my Christian walk - step into my Father's Shoes and prove my Holiness. But that is the key, it is not my Holiness. I have no worth to be set aside for God except through Christ Jesus' sacrifice on the Cross and victory over death, Hell and the grave. 

Father God said, "Be Holy because I, the Lord your God, am Holy." (Leviticus 19:2). He said this long before sending His Son, proving there is no way to live in Dad's Shoes, even if He gave us a list of Does and Don'ts (The Law of Moses). 

So, He sent someone who wore Sandals. To me this is the simplest of shoes next to being barefoot. It has little connecting leather parts and exposes the foot to all kinds of harsh experiences. This reminds me, that by Christ coming and wearing The Sandal; by Jesus visiting as the Suffering Servant; by the Word of God in flesh being my Holiness - "we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin." (Hebrews 4:15)

Now, believers have The Counselor to help us wear Christ's Sandals, which were the same as Father God's Dress Shoes because The Father and The Son are One. The Dress Shoes or Sandals we wear in honor of Christ's Holiness in us will stretch and re-size over the years. But God will never leave you, nor forsake you as you emulate Christ; as you wear these Shoes And Sandals...A Call To Holiness.