Uncle Bob. To know him was to absolutely love him. His outgoing personality made him a complete joy to be around. He was a man who had a story about everything and spent most of his time laughing and just generally enjoying life.
Uncle Bob and my Dad often talked about their favorite Cowboy movies. They would converse about celebrities as if they knew them personally. I was always impressed at how many actors and actresses they knew, and how many of their movies they could name. Uncle Bob was a living encyclopedia of movie history! If he were alive today, I wonder what he would think of the latest news related to the late Judy Garland.
Most of the world is familiar with the movie, The Wizard of Oz. It starred a beautiful young girl and her dazzling pair of ruby-red slippers. Over the years, the iconic slippers have sold at auctions, and each time, they have drawn an astonishing price for the most avid movie memorabilia collector. This past Saturday was no different. Heritage Auctions in Dallas, TX., released a statement stating that Dorothy's Ruby Slippers had officially sold for 28 million dollars, making it the most expensive piece of movie memorabilia ever auctioned!
Can you believe that? That is an insane amount of money spent to purchase something so small and trivial, especially considering that Judy Garland is rumored to have stated that they were terribly uncomfortable to wear. But it wasn't the color and the style that made these shoes so spectacular and worth 28 million dollars. It was what the shoes carried.
In the movie, they were magical. They took Dorothy to an amazing faraway land. The place where she learned the value of friendship, love, and what it felt like to finally be home. But, it pales in comparison to the shoes that scripture mentions to us as Christians.
In Ephesians 6: 14-15, the Apostle Paul is explaining to his fellow Christians how to prepare themselves for spiritual warfare against the enemy. He talks to them about the Armor of God, which is seven pieces.
The belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, the sword of the spirit, prayer, and shoes that are made with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Dorothy may have danced on streets of gold in her set of ruby slippers, but you and I are called to walk this life in shoes that are prepared with a gospel of peace that will allow us to face any situation as we share the word of God. We need the gospel of peace in opposition.
We need the gospel of peace in stressful and uncomfortable situations. We need our feet to walk in the shoes of the preparation of the gospel of peace to reach those who seem unreachable. Ruby slippers may sparkle and shine, but “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation,…” (Isaiah 52:7)
The gospel of peace brings the message of salvation through Jesus Christ, and that salvation gives us eternal life. It is a worth that could never be measured and a price that we could never pay. Some may choose to live their life walking in ruby slippers, but I choose to walk in the shoes of peace.
