The Bible Says Go The Extra Mile

The day before yesterday, I talked again to the man from the town hall concerning my AWOL garbage bin. He told me that he received a total of seven calls from people last week who couldn't find their garbage bins. He also told me that in all the years he has worked for the town, never have so many garbage bins disappeared in one time.

He said he can't figure it out. It boggies his mind, and there is no rational explanation for it. I guess the theory he told me last week, which was that the wind must have blew them away and vanished them into thin air, didn't quite pan out with his coworkers.

I have come up with a more reasonable explanation. On the same day that the garbage bins went missing, there was a drastic drop in temperature. I think the homeless have taken them to use as shelters from the dangerous cold. My bin was recently washed while most others are disgustingly dirty. Therefore my bin was selected over the others. It's just a theory, but it does make sense.

Anyways, early yesterday morning, the city dropped off my new garbage bin. The man who delivered it even went the extra mile and put into the bin my two garbage bags that were sitting next to the road. I thought it was really nice of him to do that so that I didn't have to brave the freezing, death-defying, Arctic temperatures to do it myself.

Then I thought how important it is for Christians to "go the extra mile" by doing more than what is expected of us.

Did you know that the idiom "to go the extra mile" originated from the Bible? The Word of God says that if someone forces you to go one mile, volunteer for two.

"If someone forces you to go one mile,

go with him two miles."

Matthew 5:41 (NIV)

If we have this selfless kind of attitude in our work places, schools, homes, or churches, then we become a blessing to others and a testimony of God's wondrous and beautiful character, thereby drawing others to Jesus Christ and establishing harmonious relationships with others.

This is the second way we can evangelize. The first, which I wrote about in an earlier post, is by showing respect to God and fellow believers. The second is by going the extra mile.