Required reading
Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment by Jeremiah Burroughs (available from Amazon or free on the internet,
here for example)
- Chapter 11: Sections IX to XIII.
My notes and thoughts
Burroughs continues listing excuses for discontentment.
Against excuse IX ('...the condition that God has put me in, makes me unserviceable and this troubles me') Burroughs deploys an excellent quote from Augustine as part of his argument: 'It is better to be the meanest member in the body, than to be the highest and most important member and cut off from the body; it is better to be a little sprig in the tree joined to the root, than to be an arm cut off from the root.' Better to be a Christian of little worldly worth than a non-Christian of great worldly worth!
I also liked the point that dependence upon God is easier when we do not have much prosperity: '...if God hedges that man about with wealth...he is not sensible now of his dependence upon God, and he begins now to pay less toll and custom to God than before.' One of my favourite parts of Proverbs speaks to this very idea:
7 "Two things I ask of you, O LORD; do not refuse me before I die: 8 Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. 9 Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, 'Who is the LORD?' Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God. (Proverbs 30:7-9)
(Don't forget we start Flavel on 1st September and to vote for what comes after him, Watson or Bunyan)
Now it's your turn
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.
2 comments:
I thought the old hymn "Count Your Many Blessings" fitted this chapter well.
I also liked Augustine's quote. A good reminder also that nothing done for the Lord, no matter how large or small, is wasted.
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