Go the Extra 3,520 Cubits

"Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two." (Matthew 5:41 NASB)

How many times has this happened to you? You're minding your own business when someone approaches you and requires you to walk a mile.

Never?

Well, it was common in Jesus' day. A person could be hard at work slashing grass in his field when a soldier would approach and demand that the person carry a load of "soldier stuff" for a mile. By law, the citizen was required to comply. At the end of that mile, the soldier would release the citizen to return to his field, and find someone else nearby to stop what they were doing to carry the stuff the next mile.

Surely no one enjoyed having to give up precious time needed for growing the family food in order to imitate a pack mule. No doubt the reaction to such an order was visible disdain and complaint at having been chosen. Many, after having gone the grueling mile, likely stomped back to where they started, saying a few colorful words before resuming their work.

Jesus' instruction? The Christian must be different.

Rather than griping and belly-aching, the servant of the Lord was to cheerfully accompany the soldier and bear the load. And...at the end of the mile he was to smile and say, "Why don't we go one more?" The effect of this was to show others that there was something radically different about those who wore the name of Christ.

There will unlikely be such a request made of you by a soldier. But your boss may want to give you an unpleasant task. Your neighbor may ask a favor that messes up your schedule. The way of the world is to comply, but give polite but unmistakeable cues that you'd rather not. The way of God's servant is to testify of the change that's been made within by cheerfully doing more than what's asked.