let love and faithfulness never leave you

let love and faithfulness never leave you;
bind them around your neck
write them upon the tablet of your heart.
Proverbs 3:3

and i will restore to you

And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten.

Joel 2:25

do not neglect the gift that is in you

Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of eldership... Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all...

1 Timothy 4:14-15

salvation with fear and trembling

Sacrifice of Isaac, Caravaggio, 1603

Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
Philippians 2:12

work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

fear and trembling. hmmm... i'm not a biblical scholar but i've never felt this as a call to terror but perhaps a call to rigor.

this is something that feels especially relevant during lent as i aim to fulfill my sacred disciplines.

but i think the "work out your own" is pivotal. work out/your own. it's a directive. it's personal. a call to action.

make your salvation mean something to you. make Christ mean something to you. reach into His sacrifice and do something with it. take it seriously.

sweat with it.