Day 76

 

My Feet

 

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

 

I have beautiful feet. In fact my feet are my best feature. With my face I'm not going to win any beauty contest or be a male model. With my physique I will not be confused with a certain former governor of California. I've never won a popularity contest so I know my personality rubs some people the wrong way. What I have is beautiful feet.

 

I am not making this claim based on pride but upon years of experience in viewing feet. I worked my way through college and Seminary being a life guard and a shoe salesman. In both jobs I got to see a lot of feet. My feet are not too big or too small, a moderate size 9 1/2. My toes are not too stubby or too long and skinny. They are perfectly shaped.

 

I am really pleased that my toenails are well colored and healthy. When I was young I was afraid that as I grew older I would have toenails like my dad's. When I was a kid my dad's toenails were yellow and thick and scary. They looked like the toenails of Neanderthal man. What I didn't know was that his toenails were a sort of occupational hazard. He was a coach and constantly battled athlete's foot. It has been years since my dad coached and his toenails are fine now. He can go barefoot and not scare the grand kids. And I am grateful and proud that I had a dad who would sacrifice his feet's beauty to put food on the table for us.

 

I know that vanity is a sin and not an attractive character trait. One of the guys I sold shoes with was so vain his best friend was a mirror. In fact he would stand in front of the mirror at the shoe store every day and say, "I can't wait for tomorrow. I get better looking every day." I never spend time looking at my feet in the mirror.

 

The only flaw on my feet is that I have a small scar on one of them. When I was about 12 I jumped over a barb wire fence somewhat unsuccessfully. I hooked my ankle on a barb and had a big gash down on to my foot that was about 9 inches long. I went home and showed it to my dad. My dad believed in tough love. I didn't get a tetanus shot or stitches. He put this red medicine on the cut that really burned. It was probably picante sauce. The he put 12 regular old band aids across the cut. When it healed I had a 9 inch scar that stood up about 1/4 of an inch off my foot. Over the years the scar shrunk to where it is no longer raised up and only about an inch long. I think it gives my foot a rugged, manly quality. 

 

The Bible talks about beautiful feet. In Isaiah 52:7 it says, "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!'" Now that is the kind of feet I want.

 

Upon Further Review:

 

Read Isaiah 52:7-12

• What are the watchmen to do?
• What are the "ruins of Jerusalem" going to do?
• What are those "who carry the vessels of the LORD" supposed to do?