Required reading
Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment by Jeremiah Burroughs (available from Amazon or free on the internet,
here for example)
- Chapter 10.
My notes and thoughts
Now Burroughs turns to how murmuring may be intensified with 11 'aggravations'.
The best aggravator was the first one: 'To murmur when we enjoy an abundance of mercy'. Burroughs expands with: 'To be discontented in any afflicted condition is sinful and evil, but to be discontented when we are in the midst of God's mercies, when we are not able to count the mercies of God, still to be discontented because we have not got all we would have, this a greater evil.'
This line of thought also brought out in section VII: 'For those to be discontented who have been very great sinners and ungodly in their former life.' Any Christian who truly comprehends the cross should NEVER be discontented, period. But oh how sinful our hearts are! Again and again we forget God's mercy in Christ and continue to show annoyance with the smallest trifle.
Also interesting: 'Now I am discontented and murmuring, because I am afflicted; but that is why you are afflicted, because God would humble you.' Talk about a vicious cycle!
Ok, I also have to mention that I am blown away that chapter 9 and 10 are the only chapters to reference Job and those references are quite fleeting. Just to be sure, I did a search of the book at Google books. Now I'm not saying I could write this book better than Burroughs (hardly!), and I'm not saying I have not found the book helpful (quite the opposite!), but I do think a book on contentment should really give poor old Job a better deal. What do you think?
Now it's your turn
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.
2 comments:
"Again and again we forget God's mercy in Christ and continue to show annoyance with the smallest trifle." Amen. How many times a day do I do that?
Ha. You're right that Job could have been used more often in this book. Thanks for the summary of Chapter 10
When I led our ladies' group through this book I supplemented our study with references to Job and Hebrews constantly, because this book made me think of Job as an illustration of his points all the time. Not sure why he didn't do the same either, now that you mention it. He did not use a whole lot of Scripture quotes as a whole, though he was not in any way un-scriptural either. He just seemed to assume a lot of foundational biblical and theological sophistication in the listeners/readers of his day.
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