One of the books I read in 2022 was Dane Ortlund’s Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers.

He writes,

“This book is written for the discouraged, the frustrated, the weary, the disenchanted, the cynical, the empty. Those running on fumes. Those whose Christian lives feel like constantly running up a descending escalator.

“[Those who] wonder if we have shipwrecked our lives beyond what can be repaired. Who are convinced we’ve permanently diminished our usefulness to the Lord. Who have been swept off our feet by perplexing pain and are wondering how we can keep living under such numbing darkness.

[Spurgeon once commented], “In the four Gospel accounts given to us in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—eighty-nine chapters of biblical text—there’s only one place where Jesus tells us about his own heart.”

[Jesus said], “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” – Matt. 11:28–30

[Jesus says], “I am gentle…of heart.”

“Jesus is not trigger-happy. Not harsh, reactionary, easily exasperated. He is the most understanding person in the universe. The posture most natural to him is not a pointed finger but open arms.

[Jesus says], “I am lowly…of heart.”

“‘Lowly is often translated ‘humble’ as in James 4:6. It overlaps with ‘gentle.’

“The point in saying that Jesus is lowly is that he is accessible. For all his resplendent glory and dazzling holiness, his supreme uniqueness and otherness, no one in human history has ever been more approachable than Jesus Christ. No prerequisites. No hoops to jump through.

“For lowly gentleness is not one way Jesus occasionally acts toward others. Gentleness is who he is. It is his heart.

“He doesn’t simply meet us at our place of need; he lives in our place of need.”

The last line of the Eagles’ hit, Desperado:

“You better let somebody love you, before it’s too late.”

That Somebody is Jesus.

Jesus loves you, nw