Double Discipleship

Is there ever a good reason to despise someone? Maybe so. There seemed to be a good reason that the Jews despised Roman soldiers. The law said that a Roman soldier could require a Jewish citizen to carry the heavy military backpack for one mile. Many Jewish citizens had markers located one mile from their homes to inform a Roman soldier of the limit of their legal responsibility. Jesus had some hard sayings for His Jewish followers, especially for His disciples in the Sermon on the Mount. Perhaps none of His descriptions of discipleship were more difficult to hear than the one recorded in Matthew 5:41, “whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.” I enjoy the company of second-mile believers. You know who they are! They’re the ones who show up early and stay late to see what else needs to be done. They’re the ones who call at just the right time to see if you need anything. They’re the ones who pray for you when everyone else has said, “Amen.” They’re the ones involved in double discipleship – second mile folks. How about being a second mile disciple this week.

Join me this week in praying for the following global concerns:
• Pray for Joe as he spends the week in the Kharkov region helping a colleague with a volunteer medical team.
• Pray for churches in WestCoast Baptist Association (Vancouver, Canada) who are struggling in the area of finances.
• Pray for students and faculty from Ouachita Baptist University as they serve this week in Prague, Budapest and Eastern Hungary.
• For those who have been following the reports on the missing missionary pilot, you can now keep up with the search at www.findjerry.com.