Alright ladies and gentlemen, I am about to get personal (if you’ve followed the blog at all you’ll know that’s fairly ordinary) and touch on something I believe wholeheartedly but I am well aware that not all will agree with me. Still, deep in my heart, I am convicted that I must say it. Read on if you are open to the conversation and if not, I pray that you’ll come back at a later date. Yes, I plan on talking about the gospel of Jesus Christ.
I recently spent a good ten days in the beautiful country of Greece, a trip mixed with work and play, as I got to explore the country and do a gorgeous portrait session in Santorini, Greece. It was a trip of a lifetime and I’ll be sharing more about it in the weeks to come…don’t worry! My blogging calendar said that I was going to post the portrait session today that I did while I was there but something stirred inside of me to put that on hold for now and write about a much more urgent topic. Yes, getting to capture the island of Santorini through a tale of newlywed love was a highlight of my trip, but it wasn’t the most important thing. You see, with Greece being a country marked by rich biblical history, I spent a good amount of time exploring the country through the eyes of the Apostle Paul and his missionary journeys while I was there. Hence the mix of work and play. Paul, who had a dramatic conversion to Christianity, became a passionate follower of Christ and we have him to thank for much of the New Testament and the spread of the early church to those outside of Judaism. As I toured around Greece, I got to walk where Paul walked as he faithfully took the good news to those that hadn’t heard. The good news of Jesus Christ. Paul was so convinced of his message, that he abandoned all the comfort the world had to offer and spent a good portion of his life walking from city to city proclaiming that Jesus Christ was Savior. That all men needed Him. He was mocked, beaten, jailed and run out-of-town for this message…yet he walked on. Eventually this message led to his death, yet he welcomed it as a testimony to the world that he would die for what he believed. They say Paul logged 10,000 miles during his years of ministry. A lot of that on foot. As I walked where Paul walked and stood where he stood, I was reminded of a passage of the Bible that I have always loved.
“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
How beautiful are the feet of those that bring good news…that is what I think of when I think of Paul’s missionary journeys. The spread of the good news of Jesus Christ to my door, 2000 years later, is because of faithful men and women like Paul who spoke of all that Christ had done…even in the midst of great persecution. I stood in Athens a week ago, the Parthenon behind me, the city of Athens before me and I was stunned. My feet were planted on the rock where Paul challenged the men of Athens to serve the one true God…not made by human hands but who made ‘the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth.’ (Acts 17:24) I stood where he stood, believing the message that he preached and I was reminded. Reminded that I too want my feet to be made beautiful by the simple fact that they carry me to places where, no matter who may reject me, I would faithfully proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ. So, today, I am challenging each one of us to hear and consider the truth that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world from our own sin. I recognize that not all will join me in this conviction but I ask you to consider. To search out. To seek. From my seeking I have become convinced that He is the One true God. In Him, ‘we live and move and have our being.’ If we seek Him we will find Him and have life-everlasting. May my life, like Paul’s, be recklessly abandoned to the message of Christ and His saving grace. May my feet be made beautiful by obediently taking the message to the ends of the earth. No matter the cost.
So, In the Name of Beautiful Feet and the Good News of Jesus Christ,
I Say, Take Me Back!
(Writing a post like this, I recognize that not all will agree but I hope the discussion will be fruitful. Feel free to email me with thoughts.)
.jpg)