Weird thing about the Christian gospel: it *both* calls us to "pick up your cross and follow" (difficult, painful) *and* "come to me and I will give you rest" (easy, comforting). If our salvation lies in union with Christ, we must insist on both.1/4

I have to wrap my head around this repeatedly. It's not a contradiction. The resolution lies in the object or aim of each command. We are promised a sure relationship with Jesus. We can lean into/lay back into that, knowing it is imperishable, dependent on Christ alone. 2/4

But the dynamics of that relationship is discipleship, which will test our limits and take us beyond what we think we can do...or be. But failure doesn't threaten the existence of that relationship--we can rest in that. The Christian life is both: faith *and* repentance. 3/4

It's weird and wonderful: this relationship I can call home and be at ease within, and yet it will call me to be more than I would have imagined possible. The only appropriate response: gratitude, humility, and worship for such a God. 4/4