John

“The cumulative testimony of the four Gospels is that when Jesus Christ sees the fallenness of the world all about him, his deepest impulse, his most natural instinct, is to move toward that sin and suffering, not away from it.”
― Dane C. Ortlund, Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers

“Even small actions of everyday faithfulness will cost us something. Yet the rewards of nearness to Christ are immeasurably more valuable than anything we must remove.”
― Glenna Marshall, Everyday Faithfulness: The Beauty of Ordinary Perseverance in a Demanding World

“Consider what Jesus is saying. A yoke is the heavy crossbar laid on oxen to force them to drag farming equipment through the field. Jesus is using a kind of irony, saying that the yoke laid on his disciples is a nonyoke. For it is a yoke of kindness. Who could resist this? It’s like telling a drowning man that he must put on the burden of a life preserver only to hear him shout back, sputtering, “No way! Not me! This is hard enough, drowning here in these stormy waters. The last thing I need is the added burden of a life preserver around my body!”
― Dane C. Ortlund, Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers

“Everyday faithfulness requires patience and fortitude that's desperately dependent upon God's own faithfulness.”
― Glenna Marshall, Everyday Faithfulness: The Beauty of Ordinary Perseverance in a Demanding World