2 miles

It's been too long. 

“And if anyone forces you to go one mile, 

go with him two.”

Matthew 5:41 

How funny that I've never really considered the application and implication of this "saying of Jesus."

First of all, I don't like being forced into anything.  I can't do those workout group classes very well or even work with a personal trainer (aka my boyfriend) because I just don't like being told what to do.  It feels like a form of being forced, and if I'm being forced then it leaves me feeling uncomfortably powerless.  

It's funny how Jesus alludes to the activity of being forced to "go one mile."  

That sounds downright miserable.  

Working out is hard enough, but having to workout when you don't want to is draining.  You feel:  powerless.  We might even phrase the saying as "if someone takes some power from you, let him have more leaving you even more powerless than at first."

Being forced to go one mile is bad enough, but I think what Jesus is saying when He says to add one more is that in doing more for the other we no longer make it something forced but an active choice.  That choice, if made in accordance to what Christ says, gives glory to God.  We have to remain free by choosing to do more than that which was asked of us otherwise we are just doing what we have to.  In giving more we are no longer being forced but exercising our freedom as God's children. 

“And if anyone forces you to go one mile, 

go with him two.”

Matthew 5:41 

The next time we find ourselves in a demand let us double our efforts to move from being forced to freely giving so that all men would see our actions and glorify God.  Jesus takes things to the supreme level by saying that everything we do can be directed to giving God the glory and here's how:  exercise your freedom in a way that glorifies Your Father. 

Don't let the feeling of power fool you, power belongs to God alone.  Good riddance if people take away the power you have if it leads to the reliance on the power God has. 

Jmegrey.