We must first consider the difficulty of what it means to climb the mountain.  The terrain is often difficult.  The footing is often uncertain.  And because it is a mountain, the feet of the climber wore the brunt of the climb.  Nicks, cuts, bumps and bruises would often render one’s feet in horrific shape.  That one would go through all of that trouble to deliver bad or horrific news would not cause the recipient to consider what the climber had to go through.  And if the news to be delivered was bad and disheartening, one might wish that the messenger had never climbed the mountain.  His feet would be considered and aberration — a hoopty in today’s culture — unwelcomed and unwanted.

         Now, flip the script — the same terrain; the same difficulty of the climb; and the same nicks, cuts, bumps and bruises describe the condition of the feet.  Only this time, the message is different.  This time the messenger comes to deliver good news of great joy.  This time the message is filled with grace, forgiveness, rejoicing and salvation to the one stuck on the mountain.  This time the message proclaims that God reigns — and that whatever horrible conditions existed before today — today, the message was so important and refreshing that it was worth it to climb the mountain despite the difficulties.  This time the feet of the messenger are considered beautiful regardless of their physical appearance.  And all rejoiced, both the messenger and the recipient.

         Imagine someone having had to scale a mountain to get away from the horrors of life only to be told that “ … that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for,

that she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins.” (Isaiah 40:2b)  Is this news too good not to tell.  That is in essence the message that God has given in Jesus Christ.  And if that message is told to all people who are going through some stuff that puts them on the rough side of the mountain, then those of us who bring the message of God’s unconditional love will land in the ‘beautiful feet’ category of messengers regardless of how we look.

• How have you seen good news change the way people perceive others when they have received grace for something they believe they should have been punished for?
• How might people’s experience of us change when they receive the good news that Christ has died for their sins?
• What can we do in telling our story to others so that we’ll have ‘beautiful feet’?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Gracious God, empower me to share the truth of Your grace in ways that people can handle Your truth, enabling my feet to be beautiful in bearing the good news.

         Societies and cultures have always created rules that exclude certain portions of their culture.  The religious arena is no different.  A eunuch within the Jewish culture, because of their physical transformation, were not allowed to enter the temple courts beyond a certain point.  They didn’t have full access to worship the God in whom they believed and held sacred.  Our culture has done the same thing with Black people previously and the LGBTQ+ community in our present culture.  At times the religious community has taken great pride in keeping certain people outside of God’s acceptance of them because they did not conform to the rules or meet a certain criterion.  And so — even in today’s culture — the religious community has set up barriers to prevent certain people from entering into a full relationship with God until they have ‘cleaned up their act” enough to stand before God righteous and justified.

         Understanding God and God’s word comes because someone has been called to tell the story of God’s truth — that God sent his son into the world that all could, by faith in Jesus Christ — stand before God justified and righteous.  Even those who have previously been excluded from a relationship with God now have access to God by faith without condition.  There are some in our world today who still can’t handle God’s truth

• How has handling God’s truth made it easier for you to accept that all are welcome in God’s kingdom?
• What part of handling God’s truth do you still struggle with?
• What will it take for you to recognize the power of God’s grace and handle God’s truth?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Loving God, grant me your grace as I grow to understand and handle Your truth that all people are welcome within Your kingdom.

         Our human attempts to be perfect — to live without “ever” making a mistake — is an uphill battle fought by everyone.  We’re impacted by both the requirements established by God to live righteously before God and among one another and we’re impacted by laws that exist in our culture that establish the rules by which we can live with each other. But because we’re human, our human laws are sometimes slanted against certain groups of people making the fulfillment of those laws unjust.  Add to that the benefit of privilege and the impact that wealth has on society, there’s no way some people ever get a fair break.  And because we’re human, we’re prone to be disobedient to the law, whether man-made or God-given.  This means that it’s an uphill battle for everyone.

         Enter God who decides to level the playing field of life, making the crooked places straight and the rough places plain so that there is no benefit to wealth and privilege and no punishment for being poor and ignorant of the law.  Our overall failure to be obedient to the laws of God or the laws of the land are now placed within another realm of understanding called grace.

         From a spiritual perspective, both those who have been given the law to obey it and those who have not now all fall beneath the same umbrella of God’s unconditional love.  There are no more legalistic hills of obedience to climb accept one — faith — the one spiritual quality that is available to everyone.  And faith is not a hill to climb so much as it is a refreshing pool to wade in.  The comforts of grace release us all from having to live in obedience to laws we daily fail to keep.  Grace also invites us to accept freely that which God gives as a gift to all who believe.  And perhaps it is the simplicity of grace that makes it difficult for people to handle the truth of God.

• How difficult was it for you to accept that you are now justified (made righteous before God) by faith rather than being obedient to a set of laws?
• How important has grace become as a part of your relationship with God?
• How has realizing God’s grace helped you to handle God’s truth?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Gracious God, I thank you for the free gift of Your grace that comes by faith in Jesus Christ who — because of his faithfulness — has paid the price for my redemption