Book Review: Jeremiah Burroughs - Contentment, Prosperity, and God's Glory

We all think we would be content if we could just have more money. What if we won the lottery? Now that we have enough money to do anything we want, would we not have so much less to worry about ?

Burroughs, in this great little book, shows us that it is even harder to live for God when we are prosperous than when we are in need. When we need something, we tend to cry out to God. We hear many testimonies of how people were at the end of their rope when they turned to God and were saved. Even Jesus said that only the sick need a doctor.

You may say, "Why do I need to read a book written for the rich, I am not rich?" Are we in America not rich compared to the rest of the world? Many of those below poverty level still carry cell phones, eat a regular meals, and have a TV. We are blessed. It is very seldom, we hear of someone in America starving to death. 

That is not to take away from the command to help those who are worse off that us. We are to have compassion for those in need.

How should we deal with all the stuff we are blessed with? Everything we have is from God. He has blessed some of us with great riches and others with only daily bread, some with large houses, others only a roof over their head, some with a $50,000 car and others with a 15 year old model. No matter what situation we are in, we are to thank God and be content.

Material possessions should not take us away from God. But in many cases those who have a lot tend to forget where these blessings came from. Many times it takes tragedy to drive us to God. Our love for God is even greater when material things can not pull us away.
Many of the Rich have more worries than middle class or poor. A poor man comes home from a hard days work and enjoys his family. The rich man is probably away from his family on a business trip. He has money invested in many different places and has to pay attention to all those things. The average person does not have those worries.

I loved this book. It was a great read and I will definitely reread it in the future. It should convict you no matter what your net worth.

This book needs to be read SLOW! - not because it is a hard read, but because it is so full of wisdom, you do not want to miss anything. The Puritans tend to write in a way that each paragraph is so full of information that the reader has to take time with each sentence to get the full impact.

I highly recommend this book and give it 5 out of 5 stars.

I received this book, free of charge from Reformation Heritage Books and Cross Focused Reviews, in exchange for an honest review.