The Art of Divine Contentment: An Exposition of Philippians 4:11 by Thomas Watson. Excerpt 59

Watson continues to urge his readers to be content with what they have:
The [ninth] argument to contentation is, The shortness of life. It is “but a vapour,” saith James. (Ja. 4. 14) Life is a wheel ever-running. The poets painted time with wings to show the volubility and swiftness of it. Job compares it to a swift post, (Job 9. 25) our life rides post; and to a day, not a year. It is indeed like a day. Infancy is as it were the day-break, youth is the sun-rising, full growth is the sun in the meridian, old age is sun-setting, sickness is the evening, then comes the night of death. How quickly is this day of life spent! Oftentimes this sun goes down at noon-day; life ends before the evening of old age comes. Nay, sometimes the sun of life sets presently after sun-rising.

Quickly after the dawning of infancy the night of death approaches. O, how short is the life of man! The consideration of the brevity of life may work the heart to contentment. Remember thou art to be here but a day; thou hast but a short way to go, and what needs a long provision for a short way? If a traveller hath but enough to bring him to his journey’s end he desires no more. We have but a day to live, and perhaps we may be in the twelfth hour of the day; why if God gives us but enough to bear our charges, till night, it is sufficient, let us be content. If a man had the lease of a house, or farm, but for two or three days, and he should fall a building and planting, would he not be judged very indiscreet? so, when we have but a short time here, and death calls us presently off the stage, to thirst immoderately after the world, and pull down our souls to build up an estate, is an extreme folly. Therefore, as Esau said once, in a profane sense, concerning his birth-right, “lo, I am at the point to die, and what profit shall this birth-right do me?” so let a Christian say in a religious sense, “lo, I am even at the point of death, my grave is going to be made, and what good will the world do me? If I have but enough till sun-setting, I am content.”

Thomas Watson lived from 1620-1686, in England. He wrote several books which survive. This blog, God willing, will post excerpts from his The Art of Divine Contentment: An Exposition of Philippians 4:11, over a number of weeks, on Sundays.

My source for the text is here, and I thank the Christian Classics Ethereal Library for making this text (and many others) available. The previous excerpt is here.
  
Philippians 4:11 Not that I speak because of lack, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content in it. (World English Bible, public domain.)  

Sunspots 708

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

Christianity: Michael Gerson on why all of us should care how prisoners are treated.

Christianity Today says that we should keep the X in Christmas/Xmas.

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Health: NPR reports on why some drug prices are so high in the US.

Humor: A Louisiana woman has placed large inflatable dragons on her lawn for Christmas. Not everyone was happy about that, says Relevant. So she added some more.


(or something) Think the US celebrates Christmas too much? NPR reports that the Philippines celebrates it for four months.



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Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross appears to have had as many, or more, shady dealings as some ex-members of the Trump administration.

(And Science) NPR reports that North Korean scientists may be learning how to produce weapons because of seemingly ordinary cooperation with scientists from other countries, especially China.

Science: NPR reports on a new largest prime number, a very large one, indeed.

NPR also reports on a study, published in the British Medical Journal, which showed, sort of, that jumping out of an airplane with a backpack is as safe as jumping out with a parachute. The study also shows some deeper truths about medical research.

The Trump administration is trying to open the last large chunk of undeveloped land in the US to oil and gas interests, without much concern for the environment, according to Earther. Sigh.


The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, I believe, it is public domain. 

Thanks for looking!

The Art of Divine Contentment: An Exposition of Philippians 4:11 by Thomas Watson. Excerpt 58

Watson urges his readers to be content with what they have:
Why is not a man content with the competency which he hath? Perhaps if he had more he would be less content; covetousness is a dry drunkenness. The world is such that the more we have the more we crave; it cannot fill the heart of man. When the fire burns, how do you quench it? not by putting oil in the flame, or laying on more wood, but by withdrawing the fuel. When the appetite is inflamed after riches, how may a man be satisfied? not by having just what he desires, but by withdrawing the fuel, &c. moderating and lessening his desires. He that is contented hath enough. A man in a fever or dropsy thirsts; how do you satisfy him? not by giving him liquid things, which will inflame his thirst the more; but by removing the cause, and so curing the distemper. The way for a man to be contented, is not by raising his estate higher, but by bringing his heart lower.

Thomas Watson lived from 1620-1686, in England. He wrote several books which survive. This blog, God willing, will post excerpts from his The Art of Divine Contentment: An Exposition of Philippians 4:11, over a number of weeks, on Sundays.

My source for the text is here, and I thank the Christian Classics Ethereal Library for making this text (and many others) available. The previous excerpt is here.
  
Philippians 4:11 Not that I speak because of lack, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content in it. (World English Bible, public domain.)  

Sunspots 707

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

Christianity: (and history) Relevant reports that President Al Mohler, of Southern Theological Seminary, commissioned a report on racism and slavery in the history of the institution. What was found wasn't pretty. (STS is a Southern Baptist institution.)

Relevant on nine myths about Christmas, that many Christians believe, such as that there definitely were three wise men.

NPR reports on the conversion of many Iranian refugees, in Turkey.

Education: (and Finance) Catherine Rampell points out that higher education brings in more non-US money than many other industries, including agriculture, but that that source of US income is diminishing, in part because of the Trump administration's animosity toward immigrants and aliens.

Finance: Robert Samuelson explains why it's difficult to measure whether particular income groups are becoming better off, or not. He concludes that the US middle class does have a growing income, although it's not growing nearly as fast as the income of the richest people.

History: Listverse on the history of 10 breeds of dogs.

This article, in Christianity Today, discusses the cultural events that have most influenced the way we observe Christmas.

Politics: Sojourners reports that the US Congress has passed juvenile justice reform legislation, on a bi-partisan basis, which should make treatment of juveniles arrested wiser, less punitive, and cut down on the advanced criminalization of juveniles in custory. (This development should not be confused with an overall justice revamping, which is being considered by Congress, has bi=partisan backing, and is looked on favorably by the President. That package has not been approved, at the time of this writing.)

Earther is not happy with the new acting secretary of the Department of the Interior, because he has a terrible record on protecting the environment.

Gizmodo reports that more people died from guns in the US, in 2017, than ever before.

Science: Gizmodo reports on the amazing variety and amount of living things living far below the surface.

Gizmodo also reports on the discovery of a new candidate for the furthest object in the solar system.


The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, I believe, it is public domain.
Thanks for looking!

The Art of Divine Contentment: An Exposition of Philippians 4:11 by Thomas Watson. Excerpt 57

Watson continues to point out the evils of being discontented:

3. Discontent does not ease us of our burden, but it makes the cross heavier. A contented spirit goes cheerfully under its affliction. Discontent makes our grief as unsupportable as it is unreasonable. If the leg be well, it can endure a fetter and not complain; but if the leg be sore, then the fetters trouble. Discontent of mind is the sore that makes the fetters of affliction more grievous. Discontent troubles us more than the trouble itself, it steeps the affliction in wormwood. When Christ was upon the Cross, the Jews brought him gall and vinegar to drink, that it might add to his sorrow. Discontent brings to a man in affliction, gall and vinegar to drink; this is worse than the affliction itself. Is it not folly for a man to embitter his own cross?
4. Discontent spins out our troubles the longer. A Christian is discontented because he is in want, and therefore he is in want because he is discontented; he murmurs because he is afflicted, and therefore he is afflicted, because he murmurs. Discontent doth delay and adjourn our mercies. God deals herein with us, as we use to do with our children; when they are quiet and cheerful, they shall have any thing; but if we see them cry and fret, then we withhold from them: we get nothing from God by our discontent but blows; the more the child struggles, the more it is beaten: when we struggle with God by our sinful passions, he doubles and trebles his strokes; God will tame our curst hearts. What got Israel by their peevishness? they were within eleven days journey to Canaan; and now they were discontented and began to murmur, God leads them a march of forty years long in the wilderness. Is it not folly for us to adjourn our own mercies? Thus you have seen the evil of discontent.

Thomas Watson lived from 1620-1686, in England. He wrote several books which survive. This blog, God willing, will post excerpts from his The Art of Divine Contentment: An Exposition of Philippians 4:11, over a number of weeks, on Sundays.

My source for the text is here, and I thank the Christian Classics Ethereal Library for making this text (and many others) available. The previous excerpt is here.
  
Philippians 4:11 Not that I speak because of lack, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content in it. (World English Bible, public domain.)  

Sunspots 706

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to

someone else:


Christianity: Comedian Stephen Colbert on how he found his faith again, through a New Testament (Gideon?) given to him on the street.
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Humor: One of my Flickr contacts has been imagining really big helpings of several kinds of food.


Politics: Scientific American reports that the Department of Interior is not protecting the environment -- quite the opposite.

FiveThirtyEight asks whether the Republican Party has given up on attracting black voters, and discusses the history of the question.

Science: Relevant reports on studies that show that almost all old ice in the Arctic is gone.


The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, I believe, it is public domain.

Thanks for looking!

The Art of Divine Contentment: An Exposition of Philippians 4:11 by Thomas Watson. Excerpt 56

Watson continues to point out the evils of being discontented:

Evil. 3d. Consider the simplicity of it. I may say, as the Psalmist, “surely they are disquieted in vain:” (Ps. 39. 6) which appears thus, 1. Is it not a vain simple thing to be troubled at the loss of that which is in its own nature perishing and changeable? God hath put a vicissitude into the creature; all the world rings changes; and for me to meet with inconstancy here, to lose a friend, estate, to be in constant fluctuation; is no more than to see a flower wither or a leaf drop off in autumn: there is an autumn upon every comfort, a fall of the leaf; now it is extreme folly to be discontented at the loss of those things which are in their own nature loseable. What Solomon saith of riches, is true of all things under the sun, “they take wings.” Noah’s dove brought an olive-branch in its mouth, but presently flew out of the ark, and never returned more: such a comfort brings to us honey in its mouth, but it hath wings; and to what purpose should we be troubled, unless we had wings to fly after and overtake it? 2. Discontent is a heart-breaking: “by sorrow of the heart, the spirit is broken.” (Pr. 15. 13) It takes away the comfort of life. There is none of us but may have many mercies if we can see them; now because we have not all we desire, therefore we will lose the comfort of that which we have already. Jonah having his gourd smitten, a withering vanity, was so discontented, that he never thought of his miraculous deliverance out of the whale’s belly; he takes no comfort of his life, but wisheth that he might die. What folly is this? We must have all or none; herein we are like children, that throw away the piece which is cut them because they may have no bigger. Discontent eats out the comfort of life. Besides, it were well if it were seriously weighed how prejudicial this is even to our health; for discontent, as it doth discruciate the mind, so it doth pine the body. It frets as a moth; and by wasting the spirits, weakens the vitals. The pleurisy of discontent brings the body into a consumption; and is not this folly? 

Thomas Watson lived from 1620-1686, in England. He wrote several books which survive. This blog, God willing, will post excerpts from his The Art of Divine Contentment: An Exposition of Philippians 4:11, over a number of weeks, on Sundays.

My source for the text is here, and I thank the Christian Classics Ethereal Library for making this text (and many others) available. The previous excerpt is here.
  
Philippians 4:11 Not that I speak because of lack, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content in it. (World English Bible, public domain.) 

Sunspots 705

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

Education: A Scientific American writer argues that STEM education and the other liberal arts are all essential.

Ethics: (and Science) A Chinese scientist, who says he altered genes in two baby girls, while they were embryos, has faced lots of outcry, on ethical grounds, and because what he did was not generally perceived to have been wise. For more on this matter, also from NPR, see here. Gizmodo reports that the Chinese government has shut down these experiments. Scientific American asks some important questions about this episode.

Food: NPR tells us how much protein we need, and whether or not we are likely to be getting it.

Politics: NPR says that the number of unauthorized immigrants is the lowest in a decade.

Relevant reports that more white evangelical Christians believe that climate change is real, than the percentage of Republicans who do.

FiveThirtyEight provides a chart, showing that the Mueller investigation, far from being a fruitless "witch hunt," has resulted in more indictments and pleas over a shorter time than any like investigation since Watergate.

Listverse tells us about 10 important episodes in the career of the late President George H. W. Bush.

Science: Earther on possible ways to protect coral reefs through technological intervention.

Gizmodo reports on a female albatross, in the wild, who is at least 69 years old, and raised a chick last year, and has laid an egg this year.

Gizmodo, and other outlets, report that some spiders feed their young with a milk-like substance.


The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, I believe, it is public domain. 

Thanks for looking!

The Art of Divine Contentment: An Exposition of Philippians 4:11 by Thomas Watson. Excerpt 55

Watson continues to point out the evils of being discontented:

5. Discontent doth not only disquiet a man’s self, but those who are near him. This evil spirit troubles families, parishes, &c. If there be but one string out of tune, it spoils all the music: one discontented spirit makes jarrings and discords among others. It is this ill-humour that breeds quarrels and lawsuits. Whence are all our contentions, but for want of contentation? “From whence come wars and fighting among you? Come they not hence, even of your lusts?” (Ja. 4. 1) in particular from the lust of discontent. Why did Absalom raise a war against his father, and would have taken off not only his crown but his head? was it not his discontent? Absalom would be king. Why did Ahab stone Naboth? was it not discontent about the vineyard? Oh this devil of discontent! Thus you have seen the sinfulness of it.

Thomas Watson lived from 1620-1686, in England. He wrote several books which survive. This blog, God willing, will post excerpts from his The Art of Divine Contentment: An Exposition of Philippians 4:11, over a number of weeks, on Sundays.

My source for the text is here, and I thank the Christian Classics Ethereal Library for making this text (and many others) available. The previous excerpt is here.
  
Philippians 4:11 Not that I speak because of lack, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content in it. (World English Bible, public domain.)