I don’t really have time to try and put this post together, but I want to get some thoughts written out in the hopes that some of the guys in my men’s group will read them – also the few of you who actually have this site plugged into your RSS reader.
Each morning it is my “duty”, my “work”, my life’s “occupation” to mortify (kill) myself. Myself in this case referring to the old man, the old Rong prior to my salvation. And in case you’re at all wondering where on earth this is coming from, my men’s group is reading Overcoming Sin and Temptation by John Owens. This is also the book that Tim Challies and many of his readers are currently working through.
This whole idea, of mortifying ones self is a very puritan one, and it really wouldn’t surprise me if one of the first images that passes in peoples minds is of someone crawling on broken glass while flagellating themselves with a scourge. Honestly isn’t that the kind of image that we’ve had ingrained in our minds when thinking of the Puritans. That there’s no color or joy in their world, that it’s all stark blacks and whites, with dour faces and solemnity in all their actions. At least that seems to be pictures that the world paints and would have us (Chrisitians) also believe. Yet as I read the writings of the puritans, as I leave my pre-prescribed notions of them at the door and greet them anew I find in them a truth that resonates in my soul.
So in light of this, how do we live a life of Christian Contentment? I know that I am to find my contentment in God. That in the turmoil of this life there are the solid promises of who God is and my place with Him in Christ. And yet, I am not a finished product. There is still an ember of the old man that must be addressed and dealt with each and every day. Here is a quote from Owens that the Pot Stirrer reminded me of yesterday.
The heart is like the sluggard’s field, — so overgrown with weeds that you can scarce see the good corn. Such a man may search for faith, love, and zeal, and scarce be able to find any; and if he do discover that these graces are there yet alive and sincere, yet they are so weak, so clogged with lusts, that they are of very little use; they remain, indeed, but are ready to die. But now let the heart be cleansed by mortification, the weeds of lust constantly and daily rooted up (as they spring daily, nature being their proper soil), let room be made for grace to thrive and flourish, — how will every grace act its part, and be ready for every use and purpose!
How can I be content when I look at the garden of my life and see weeds sprouting up everywhere and know the monumental task that awaits me every day. Where is contentment to be found, how is to be captured, it is as elusive as a gazelle in the tall Sahara grass.
Yes I know, I doth wax poetically but the reality is contentment is not some ethereal idea. What it is, is a way of thinking that as Christians we are admonished to strive for. 2 Corinthians 12:10, Proverbs 19:23, Hebrews 13:4-6
But here’s the thing, contentment is not simply some gift that we’re handed and now we have it. It’s like the parable of the treasure in the field. We have to pursue it. We have to want it. And once we have it we need to ensure that no one takes it away from us, even when that someone is usually us.
And with that last sentence in mind, we come back full circle to mortifying the flesh and the old man which is that ember of original sin that we will carry with us to our graves.
I’d like to wrap this up with just a one more thought.
I question whether, in our desire as Christians to say that we are content we don’t wind up selling ourselves a bill of goods. And what I mean is that some Christians buy into the worldly pablum that says in order to be truly content we must content with ourselves. In other words if I’m not happy with who I am then how can I be content? And it does sound rather reasonable. So much so that a lot of false teachers preach this very thing.
I/we think of being content in the same way we picture ourselves kicking back in a chase lounge on the beach with a little umbrella drink in one hand, a cigar in the other (substitute as you desire, this is my picture) and a waiter hovering over us waiting on our every whim.
But here is a far wiser and more astute way of seeing it.
True contentment is a thing as active as agriculture. It is the power of getting out of any situation all that there is in it. It is arduous and it is rare.
G.K. Chesterton
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