August 18, 2009

Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment - Burroughs - III - End of Chapter 1

Required reading 
Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment by Jeremiah Burroughs (available from Amazon or free on the internet, here for example) - Chapter 1: Sections V, VI, VII, VIII and IX.

My notes and thoughts
So much good material here, particularly the section on taking pleasure in God's disposal: '...not only do I see that I should be content in this affliction, but I see that there is good in it.  I find there is honey in this rock, and so I do not only say, I must, or I will submit to God's hand.  No, the hand of God is good, "it is good that I am afflicted."'  So true, yet so hard.  For example, a child that I taught in Sunday School a few years ago in another church was hit by a bus and killed two weeks ago.  Yet the ending of this 9 year olds life is is in God's pleasure and so must be my pleasure - there is honey in the rock even if I cannot see it.

Also helpful is the reminder to be content when God brings affliction to every area of our lives and over all periods of time: 'So when God casts us down, we must be content to lie till God bids us stand up, and God's Spirit enters into us to enable us to stand up.'
Now it's your turn
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.

1 comment:

Keith said...

The hard part is taking pleasure in God's disposal NOW - while the difficulty is in progress. True, we may LATER see the good in it, but NOW is the hard part for us to learn. I also liked the way he differentiated between people who have a natural disposition to be calm and content and who may, therefore, be calm even about good things contrasted with those who have learned true Christian contentment. Keith