We live in a world of options, where we might do this or that if we feel like it. But for followers of Jesus, certain things are not optional, but necessary.
Bishop Claude Alexander unpacks the Gospels' statements of what Jesus said he must do. He must be about his Father's business. He must go through Samaria. He must go to Jerusalem.
Life in God is less about what you could do, and more about what you must do. Contrary to the life of the optional, accidental, and haphazard, the believer is called to live with a sense of divine necessity. No maybes about it.

Bishop Claude R. Alexander Jr. is senior pastor of The Park Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. He serves on the board of Christianity Today, Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, and Movement.org. He is the chair of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary's board of trustees and a past president of the Hampton University Ministers Conference. He and his wife, Kimberly, have two daughters.