Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment - Burroughs - VII - Chapter 5

Required reading 

Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment by Jeremiah Burroughs (available from Amazon or free on the internet, here for example) - Chapter 5.

My notes and thoughts
Lots of good material in this chapter.  The first section is basically a number of assertions from the doctrine of total depravity.  Burroughs sums up his thoughts into one succinct prayer: 'Lord, I am nothing, Lord, I deserve nothing, Lord, I can do nothing, I can receive nothing, and can make use of nothing, I am worse than nothing, and if I come to nothing and perish I will be no loss at all, and therefore is it such a great thing for me to be cut short here?'  With one powerful sentence, Burroughs sweeps away the self-esteem movement's attempt to produce contentment in humans.  I do believe that the doctrine of total depravity is the best starting point for understanding the Christian faith.  So much is lost if this doctrine is dismissed.

I also loved the illustration of the hungry man: 'Many men think that when they are troubled and have not got contentment it is because they have but a little in the world, and that if they had more then they should be content.  That is just as if a man were hungry, and to satisfy his craving stomach he should gape and hold open his mouth to take in the wind, and then should think that the reason why he is not satisfied is because he has not got enough of the wind; no, the reason is because the thing is not suitable to a craving stomach.'  How much of the world is consuming wind when they need to consume God!

Now it's your turn
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.