Earthly Pleasure or Godly Pleasure?


But the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love.
Psalm 147:11

C. S. Lewis in Mere Christianity writes, "Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exists. A baby feels hunger; well, there is such a thing as food. A duckling wants to swim; well, there is such a thing as water. . . . If I find in myself a desire that no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy it, that does not prove that the universe is a fraud. Probably, earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing."

The word "pleasure" is mentioned in the Bible more than 60 times. "Pleasure" is generally defined as the gratification of the senses or of the mind; agreeable sensations or emotions; the excitement, relish, or happiness produced by the expectation or the enjoyment of something good, delightful, or satisfying; as opposed to pain and sorrow.

When a person is making a trip to another land, the question invariably will come up, "Is this trip for business or for pleasure?" The general thinking is that it is either related to work or to leisure. For the christian, the business of the kingdom of God is our pleasure.

The word Eden means pleasure. So we know that the first home of man was meant to be a place of pleasure for him. That was before sin messed up the whole situation. We also understand that God is okay with you and I enjoying certain pleasures. It is of the utmost importance that our pleasures revolve around our life in God.

There is a difference between the "will of the Lord" and the "pleasure of the Lord." There are times when God may allow a thing and yet take no pleasure with it. We ought to be truly interested in whatever our Lord takes pleasure in. If He has no pleasure in a thing, neither should His people.

God finds pleasure in many things. It may surprise you that Isaiah tells us that it pleased God to bruise Jesus Christ. But His enjoyment is tied to the accomplishing of His will and purpose.

In Psalm 147:11, the psalmist explains that God is pleased when we are hopeful of receiving mercy. "The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him, In those who hope in His mercy." Another way to please God is to fear Him, and to reverence Him. Hoping in His mercy is another way of pleasing God.

Our psalm says that God takes pleasure ‘in those who hope in his steadfast love’ (v.11b). The word for ‘steadfast love’ in Hebrew is chesed. I like the NRSV ‘steadfast love’; it means ‘love with muscles’, love you can count on, love that’s always there because God has committed himself to making sure it’s always there. God is the Saviour and Rescuer of his people, and we can put our hope in his steadfast love for us.

How can we both ‘fear the Lord’ and also ‘hope in his steadfast love’? Doesn’t fear mean we’re afraid God is going to hurt us? And how can we hope in his steadfast love for us if we’re afraid he’s going to hurt us?

Fear doesn’t mean we’re afraid God is going to hurt us. It means that we recognize that God is God and we are not. With all our scientific advances we are still helpless against some of the most dangerous and powerful forces that threaten to overwhelm us, and against our own inner demons that threaten to destroy us. But God is not helpless; the God who created everything is also stronger than everything that he has made. Our wisdom and knowledge are limited, but God’s wisdom and knowledge are infinite.

To fear the Lord, then, means to give up our human desire to be the god of our own world, and to quietly and willingly taken our rightful place as God’s creatures before our loving Creator. As we do this, we put ourselves in the place where we can indeed hope in his steadfast love. We will acknowledge him as God of all creation; we will call on his help as our Saviour in our time of need; we will listen to the Word he has spoken to us in Jesus, and we will shape our lives by it. The psalmist tells us that the Lord will see that, and take pleasure in it. I don’t know about you, but that sounds to me like a good thing!

Dear Friends this Lenten Season can we stop going around gaining pleasure for ourselves and try to seek God's pleasure.

God Bless You.
Location: Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The King with a Difference

If anyone asks you, why you are doing this? Say the lord needs it and will send it back here shortly. Mark 11:3 Today we celebrate as Palm Sunday/hosanna wherein we take time to remember Jesus’ Triumphal entry into Jerusalem to the shouts of   “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest! ” (Mark 11:9-10).  Today we think of “Hosanna!” as a word of celebration and praise. We consider it to mean something like “Hallelujah!”, “Wonderful!”, or “Way to go!” But “Hosanna!” wasn’t just a word of praise. “Hosanna!” was also a prayer for help. The Hebrew word originally meant “Save us, we beg you!” or “Save Us now and looking at the conditions today a much needed prayer for us St. Thomas Aquinas , a thirteenth-century theologian, once said, “ In order to be saved, you must know what you believe, know why you believe, and know how to act upon it.” If Christ is Lord of our hearts an...
Read more

Fight or Reconcile?

21  “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ 22  But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. 23  So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24  leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25  Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. 26  Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny. Matthew 5:21-26  We have entered into yet another Lenten Season. Lent represents the 40 days Jesus...
Read more

River or Canal Faith?

By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.   Hebrews 11.17-19 A J Reimer in his book Trusting God - Why His Plan Is Better Than Ours , that we, as humans, go through seasons in our lives as God works, grows, and teaches us. This is a book which makes us understand the importance of trust and all that it entails. A J Reimer speaks about river faith and canal faith. This is how he speaks about them, "Have you ever seen a straight river? Canals are straight, but all rivers seem to be crooked. We call it “meandering.” Why are rivers crooked? Because the natural tendency of a river is to take the easiest way around any obstacle. So rivers are always crooked, and they always run downhill...
Read more