For some time now, I have used a tag on all my emails that says, "The second mile has no traffic jams". I don't know how many people have asked me the meaning of this, and I point them back to Jesus teaching in Matthew 5, where He says, "if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two".
The Roman soldier of that day could make a Jew carry his military pack for him up to one mile, but Jesus said don't insist on your "rights" under the military law and drop the pack after a mile, but take it another. This will show Jesus to him, and he will see who your true master is. You can take the negative of humility and turn it into a positive of service.
The saying of the second mile says that this attitude of humility and service is not common. You will not be crowded in with a lot of others, even Christians, doing the same thing, but will be recognizable as a true Christ follower.
Chambers says in the reading for today, "Every time I insist upon my rights, I hurt the Son of God; whereas I can prevent Jesus from being hurt if I take the blow myself. That is the meaning of filling up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ. The disciple realizes that it is his Lord's honour that is at stake in his life, not his own honour."
Insisting on my "rights" is the American way. We would sue someone and go to court to insure that our rights were not trampled on in any way, but the Bible says that we have the right to suffer as He did and be humiliated as as He was.
I'm afraid that I am still traveling in that first mile most of the time, but I know why the second mile contains so few walkers.
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