By
Allen White
If
someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Matthew 5:41
Jesus
is speaking to a common annoyance among the people of His time. Under Roman
law, soldiers could commandeer ordinary citizens into carrying their burdens
for the distance of one mile. They had no choice. One mile was the obligation.
No more. No less.
Jesus
challenged His followers to “go the extra mile.” That’s a term that has permeated
the vernacular of our culture. “Extra mile service,” Extra Mile books, Extra
Mile seminars, and Chevron even has “ExtraMile” stores.
The
first mile was out of obligation. There was no choice. The second mile was
unexpected. Just when the soldier would expect the citizen to carelessly drop
the burden on the ground, the citizen takes the next step into the second mile
and continues on. Maybe the soldier thought he had a dumb citizen who couldn’t
calculate mileage. Would the soldier just have let this go or would he have
reminded the citizen that he didn’t need to carry it further?
What
is Mile One in your life? Working an eight-, ten-, twelve-hour day? Maintaining
a home? Teaching lessons to a class? Reaching a quota? Writing five devotionals
and a small group leaders’ blog? What is that first mile?
Now,
where does the extra mile take you? Maybe it’s doubling your efforts. Maybe
it’s not. Maybe the extra mile is not just putting in the hours and doing the
work. The extra mile is caring about the work as if it was your own, as if you
were working for God (Colossians 3:23). Maybe the extra mile is caring about
your co-workers and your boss. How are they doing? Where do they need help?
Maybe
the extra mile is giving when you have nothing to gain. Jesus’ followers
weren’t going to become all buddy-buddy with Roman soldiers. But, Jesus
directed them to help people and to expect nothing in return.
If
you are completely irritated by this devotional today, then I would challenge
you to take Jesus’ words right back to Jesus. “Jesus, You are telling me to go
the extra mile when I don’t even feel like going the first mile. Do you know
what I have to deal with at work, home, (fill in the blank)? If You want me to
develop this extra mile attitude, then You need to do a work in me. I can’t do
this on my own and maintain it.” Then, wait and see what happens next.
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