"Must" means compulsion, bondage, servitude, the hardness of which depends altogether on who the master is that says, "Thou must," and who the servant to whom it is spoken. If the master is self, the flesh, sin, the world, Satan, the bondage is increasingly bitter, and finally becomes insupportable, to the selfish, pleasure-loving man who mistook license for liberty. Less, severe, but still a hard bondage it is when an unwilling man is lashed by the fear of retribution into compliance with [43] God's law. That kind of service is weary and disappointing in its results. The gospel takes hold of man's love, through faith and hope, and gives him motive and power. Moreover, it deals with us as sons rather than slaves. It appeals to the heart: "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice." But the "must" is always there. Even Jesus, "though he was a Son, yet learned obedience." There were "musts" in his life. "I must preach the kingdom of God." "We must work the works of him that sent me." "The Son of man must suffer many things." These "musts" were inexorable. But Jesus was never anything but free. The secret of it was this: he knew God so well that he appreciated nothing so much as that sweet and adorable will of his Father, which he knew to be the embodiment of all the Father's infinite wisdom and irreproachable love. It was sweeter to him than food. "My meat is to do the will of the Father." (John 4:34.) He hugged it to his heart as his sweetest treasure; for no one understood better the good and the truth and the loveliness and blessing that lay wrapped up in the priceless will of God. "Then said I, Lo, I am come; in the roll of the book it is written of me: I delight to do thy will, O my God; yea, thy law is written within my heart." (Ps. 40:7, 8.) To understand this and to follow it means faithfulness and freedom and happiness and peace in seeking and obeying the "musts" which God has appointed for us.

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