Tried With Fire

Contentment, Prosperity, and God's Glory by Jeremiah Burroughs, edited by Phillip L. Simpson, Reformation Heritage Books, April 2013, 144 pages. Oh, that you would apply your hearts to learn how to abound in what you have. It's a good sign of grace to be more concerned about how to abound than how to get abundance - to be more careful to use what you have for God than to maintain it for yourselves.  1 Jeremiah Burroughs (1599-1646) was an English congregational preacher and member of the Westminster Assembly. He lived during a time of religious and political upheaval. Due to persecution, Burroughs fled England for exile in Holland. He left his earthly goods behind and wondered if he would see his country again. In God's providence, he returned and was appointed minister to three large and prosperous congregations. Having lived through times of extreme want, he believed it was harder for the Christian to be content in abundance than in need. To encourage himself and ...

I was thrilled to learn of the publication of Contentment, Prosperity, and God's Glory by Jeremiah Burroughs, one of my favorite Puritan authors. This was originally intended to be an appendix to The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment , which is on my top 10 list. In The Rare Jewe l, Burroughs taught his flock to be content in times of hardship. In Contentment , he sought to encourage his flock under different circumstances  - material prosperity. There's no question that we need to learn contentment in adversity, but compared to the rest of the world, we are those who carry the "burden that is in a prosperous condition." Here are some gems from this book. A review will be forthcoming on Friday, God willing. [I]t's better to know how to honor God with those good things I have than to know how I can get more. It's better to know how I might behave myself in the enjoyment of those good things God has given me than to know to get more of those good things....