Daily devotion – Going the extra mile…
Matthew 5:41-42″And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.”
This passage of Scripture and the commands of Jesus are ones that we often find difficult to fully embrace.
Is it not hard enough to be polite to those who are impolite or difficult? The context of this verse follows Jesus’ teaching on the old ‘eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth’ principle, which was originally given to ensure fairness in judgment and to prevent personal revenge.
But Jesus replaces this law with an attitude: a willingness to suffer loss yourself rather than cause another to suffer!
Jesus is applying this to personal insults, not to groups or nations. But how do we do this?
We certainly cannot do this in our own strength. So how does one go the extra mile? There must be a transformation of the heart—a change from the vengeful nature of our old flesh to that of a sinner who has received grace and mercy that we did not deserve. The old self seeks payback, but now we cannot allow that same poisonous attitude to fester within us. No, we have been changed by the grace of God.
Our lives are now lived in full knowledge of the truth: “There but by the grace of God go I.” We have been transformed from people who sought revenge to people who now offer grace.
Matthew 5:7″Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.”
If I seek payback, I become like the servant who was forgiven a great debt by his master yet went and sought out a fellow servant who owed him a small amount and had him thrown into debtors’ prison because he could not repay.
To live this way—to actually go the extra mile when confronted with a difficult situation—cannot be switched on like a plug-in appliance in the moment.
No, the ability to go the extra mile comes from living close to the Cross of Christ, walking daily in humility, and acknowledging how each day God goes the extra mile and more with us!
It requires daily surrendering our lives and our will to the Lord as we walk before Him. This is why Jesus taught us to pray daily in this manner:
Matthew 6:12″And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”
May we live in the grace that has been extended to us and reflect the love of Christ by going the extra mile in our daily walk. Amen.