The Rare Jewel of Christian Contenment - Part 4 - The Excellence of Contentment

Jeremiah Burroughs often uses imagery in his writing. Many of these devices he uses are enjoyably elucidating. I have found these similes and metaphors and analogies beneficial and entertaining. I have pulled a few analogies of the contented person out of the first half of part 4.

Analogies of the contented person from part 4 of The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment.

A contented person is like:

A dog who lies at the feet of his master; this is worship of Christ

A strong body that can endure harsh weather

A strong mind which overcomes an ill body

The eagle who does not cry out for hunger or thirst

One who walks in a fiery furnace without being burned

A still vessel in which God can pour His mercy

One final analogy I would like to point out is one that concerns the discontented person. It can be seen in this excerpt:

Oh, the temptations that men of discontented spirits are subject to! The Devil loves to fish in troubled waters. That is our proverb about men and women, their disposition is to fish in troubled waters, they say it is good fishing in troubled waters. This is the maxim of the Devil, he loves to fish in troubled waters; where he sees the spirits of men and women troubled and vexed, there the Devil comes. He says, 'There is good fishing for me', when he sees men and women go up and down discontented, and he can get them alone, then he comes with his temptations: 'Will you suffer such a thing?' he says, 'take this shift, this indirect way, do you not see how poor you are, others are well off, you do not know what to do for the winter, to provide fuel and get bread for you and your children', and so he tempts them to unlawful courses.

Having fished quite a bit, particularly when I was younger, this analogy spoke to me. When I would head out on a lake to do some fishing with my brother, the condition we dreaded the most was complete calm. When there was no wind and the surface of the lake was like glass, we did not have high expectations for catching fish. The idea the Burroughs puts forth concerning a disturbed heart and its exposure to temptation is fascinating to the angler in me. Perhaps Satan dreads a calm heart the way my brother and I dreaded calm waters.