The Extra Mile

“And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.” (Matthew 5:41). I think the concept of “going the extra mile” has become such a common part of our culture that we tend to underestimate how powerful the extra mile is. The first mile we do out of duty. We’re compelled to do a task, and we do it because we have to. Sometimes, we might even expect to get credit for doing the thing that we were supposed to do. But everything that Jesus is teaching us in the Sermon on the Mount is that the bare minimum is not going to cut it. If we are hoping that we can live the gospel by being the exact amount of righteous - no more and no less - then we are looking in the wrong place. You don’t find forgiveness or redemption or enlightenment or redemption by walking the first mile. God didn’t tell Moses to only walk up to the edge of the Red Sea. He said, walk up to the edge of the water and then keep on walking right into the sea if you really want to see a miracle. And Moses went the extra mile. God didn’t tell Abraham to take his son Issac just to the foot of Mount Moriah, or even to the edge of the altar. Abraham went the extra mile. He had the knife in his hand before God said it was enough. We almost never see the miracles on the first mile. They are almost always waiting for us on the extra mile. If we are to offer up the sacrifice of a broken heart, then we have to be willing to keep going past our breaking point. It is scary pushing ourselves that far, but as hard as it is to keep on going, the Savior is always waiting for us on the extra mile. When we have gone farther than we have the strength, that is when we must rely on the strength of the Lord. It is on the extra mile that our meager and halting efforts are transformed into God’s work and glory. It is on the extra mile that our fears are transformed into faith, our pride is transformed into humble gratitude, our duty is transformed into a privilege, our toils are transformed into loving service, our drudgery is transformed into joyful pleasure. When we choose to go the extra mile, we do so not because we are compelled but because we truly and sincerely want to. If we keep going the exact minimum mile and never seem to be getting anywhere, then maybe it’s time to give the extra mile a try. We may not think we can go one step more than the mile we are already walking, but heavenly help and a second wind await us on that extra mile, and we may just find that when we switch from doing what we must to doing what we enjoy, then all of our weariness and selfishness and fears and worries wash away.