Going the Extra Mile
I tend to occasionally half-listen to my wife. It’s a bad habit, I know. That’s not what this article is all about though (maybe I’ll write one on that topic later).
The other day, while half-listening to what she was saying about her phone conversation with my mom, she said, “Oh yeah, your brother is in Mexico.” Now that statement perked up my ears and even won her some eye contact as we conversed.
I responded, “He’s wheeeerrree?”
She said, “Mexico. He went to see Nicolas.”
Well, to make a long story short. Nathanael decided to fly to Mexico and see his other brother.
You see, Nicolas was converted to Christ a couple of years ago. He had come to the United States to find work and Christ found him while he was here. After worshipping in Indianapolis for a couple years he decided to go back to Mexico to see his family and so he might return to the United States legally.
Yet, going back to Mexico meant going to an area where there was no faithful church, no fellow Christians and a lot of discouragement. So, Nathanael, my brother, gave up the comforts of home to encourage his brother in Christ for a week.
I thought his example was praiseworthy. Sometimes we will not go down the street to see a struggling, lonely Christian, let alone take a flight to a foreign country. Sometimes we will not take five minutes out of our day to call the discouraged, let alone take off of work for a week to go do it. Now, that’s “going the extra mile” (Matthew 5:41).
Think about it.
February 2008