rol.

Free Surrender.

And if you still do not like the sound of that word surrender. It has a
harsh sound that grates upon your nerves. Will you please notice the first
word of that little sentence--"Take." Jesus does not say in sharp, hard
tones, "Come here; bend down; I'll _put_ this yoke on you." Never that. If
you will, of your own glad accord, freely, winsomely _take_ the yoke upon
you--that is what He asks. In military usage surrender is _forced_. Here
it must be _free_. Nothing else would be acceptable to Jesus.

When our commissioners went a few years ago to Paris to treat with the
Spaniards, the latter are said to have desired certain changes in the
language of the protocol. With the polished suavity for which they are
noted the Spaniards urged that there be made slight changes in the
_words_: no real change in the meaning, they said, simply in the verbiage.
And our Judge Day at the head of the American Commissioners, listened
politely and patiently until the plea was presented. And then he quietly
said, "The article will be signed _as it reads_." And the Spaniards
protested, with much courtesy. The change asked for was trivial, merely in
the language, not in the force of the words. And our men listened
patiently and courteously. Then Mr. Day is said to have locked his little
square jaw and replied very quietly, "The article will be signed as it
reads." And the article was so signed. That is military usage. The
surrender was forced. The strength of the American fleets, the prestige of
great victory were back of the quiet man's demand.

But that is not the law here. Jesus asks for only what we give freely and
spontaneously. He does not want anything except what is given with a
free, glad heart. This is to be a _voluntary_ surrender. Jesus is a
voluntary Saviour. He wants only voluntary followers. He would have us be
as Himself. The oneness of spirit leads the way into the intimacy of
closest friendship. And that is His thought for us.

Do you remember those fine lines, "The quality of mercy is not
_strained_"--if the thing be forced through a strainer, there is no mercy
there--"it droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven upon the place
beneath." Only what the warm current of His love draws out does Jesus
desire from us. It is to be a _free_ surrender.

"Him."

And if you still knit your mental brows, and shrug your shoulder. The
thing hasn't yet shaken off the harshness you have been clothing