dear brothers and sisters

i'm not sure when we started to separate duty from love
or obedience from joy,
but i'm afraid that it has happened and we haven't even realised.

i'm not sure if we've forgotten that none of those are mutually exclusive terms.
or that sometimes love is made complete when we don't shy away from duty.
or that sometimes joy is most joyful when we're doing what we ought to be.

are you ever afraid because you know that you don't really know what persecution is?

i know i am.
i know i wouldn't know what it was if it came and hit me in the face.
which is ironic when you think about the lives of some of our siblings.

we pray prayers of thanks for living in a country where we can exalt and worship jesus free of consequence and punishment.
but what's the point when we waste time entranced by that sparkling rainbow of comfort,
and start living like it's our prerogative to not be busy ever or find things difficult seasonally?

and i am so guilty of being transfixed.

expensive is the ugliest colour
and i wear it all the time.

(and it has finally started to hurt me, which i'm glad for. thank you, holy spirit.)

the colours are pretty and the spectrum can't help but be pleasing to the eye.
but maybe we'd be better off otherwise?

i am very thankful for all of jesus' words towards the end of the book of luke and that he never lies and that he always tells the truth and that i can trust whatever he says and that he did not keep things from us that we need to know and that in all things he has set us an example.