The rare jewel of Christian contentment. By Jeremiah Burroughs, preacher of the Gospel to…The rare jevvel of Christian contentment. By Jeremiah Burroughs, preacher of the Gospel to…

The first Direction.

The first is this, All the rule and helps in the world will do us little good except we get a good temper within in our hearts; you can never make a ship go steady with propping of it without, you know there must be ballast within the ship, that must make it go steady: And so there is nothing without us that can keep our hearts in a steady constant way but that that is within us, grace is within the soul and that will do it.

The second Direction.

Secondly, If you would get a contented life do not gripe too much of the world, do not take in more of the business of the world then God calls you to, be not greedy of taking in a great deal of the world, for if a man will go among thorns when he may go in a plainer way, there is no reason that this ⟨p. 196⟩man should complain that he is pricked with them; thou goest among thorns, is it thy way? must you of necessity go among them? then it's another matter, but if thou wilt electively chose that way when thou mayest go another, then thou hast no cause to complain; so for men and women that will put themselves upon things of the world that they need not, then no marvel though they be pricked, and meet with that that doth disquiet them; for such is the nature of all things here in the world, that every thing hath some prick or other in it, we are like to meet with disappointments, and discontentments in every thing we meddle with, and therefore those that have least to do in the world, (that is, except God calls them to it, we must put in that) they are like to meet with many things that will discontent them.