Required reading
Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan (available from Amazon or free on the internet,
here for example)
- Up to the paragraph that begins: 'Now then they were within sight of the porter's lodge, and they soon came up unto it; but they made the more haste after this to go thither, because 'tis dangerous travelling there in the night.'
My notes and thoughts
Today the pilgrims come to the Cross; see Simple, Sloth and Presumption hanging; and climb Hill Difficulty.
It was a helpful point that Bunyan makes by showing how Christian lost his scroll and Christiana lost her bottle of spirits in the Arbour on the Hill Difficulty. n response to Mercy's question of why people lose things when given a break from difficulty, Great-heart answers: 'The cause is sleep, or forgetfulness; some sleep, when tehy should keep awake and some forget, when they should remember; and this is the very cause why often at the resting places some pilgrims in some things come off losers. Pilgrims should watch and remember what they have already received under their greatest enjoyments; but for want of doing so, oft times their rejoicing ends in tears, and their sunshine in a cloud...' So true. When God blesses us with a time of refreshment from our struggles we tend to use it to forget the blessings he has given us and end up making matters worse for ourselves. We must use the Arbours that God gives us for good, not for evil.
Now it's your turn
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.
No comments:
Post a Comment