There was once a group of Bible society trustees who could not decide what material to use to bind a new issue of the Bible they had just printed. Should they bind it in paper? Cloth? Persian leather? Moroccan? One of the trustees rose and said, “Mr. Chairman, I move that we bind these Bibles in shoe leather and walk out their teachings into everyday life.”
Shoe leather Christians! That’s the crying need of the church and the dying need of the world. We need Christians who put feet to the teachings of God’s word. Jesus acknowledged this when he said, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). Lip service without doing the will of God won’t cut it with Jesus.
James agrees. He said, “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22). There are lots of people fooling themselves. They think it is enough that they come to church and hear God’s word preached. Not so! We must wrap the word of God in shoe leather and walk it out in the office, the shop, the schoolroom, the playground, the home, the golf course, and every other place we go. Are you a shoe leather Christian? If not, you are falling short of God’s ideal and I encourage you to get serious about obeying God today.