Genesis 1:1 says, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth."
Genesis 1:31 says, "And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold,
it was very good..."
These are two very popular verses for young children to memorize, and
two of the many that my children learned early. Of course, they didn't
really understand them completely at first, but I have seen God teach
them even now, years later after memorizing them, a bit about Himself
through these Scriptures. Our God is a personal God and He gets involved
in our lives in a very personal way, amen? I have been watching how the
Lord has been revealing Himself to my children and instructing them about
His gift of pleasure!
We see by these opening verses that pleasure was part of God’s intention
at creation. The Bible says that God saw that His work was good and He
obviously received pleasure from it! People sometimes feel guilty for
having a good time or for feeling good about an accomplishment, don't
they? This need not be so... Just as God felt good about His work, we
too, can be pleased with ours. However, we should not feel good about
our work if God would not be pleased with it! What are you doing right
now with your life that pleases God??
1 Thes. 4:1, "Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you
by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk
and to please God, so ye would abound more and more."
Yes, pleasure is one of God's wonderful gifts. Because everything that
God created is good, we should ask for God's blessing on His created gifts
that give us pleasure and thank Him for them! This doesn't mean that we
should abuse what God has made (for example, gluttony abuses God's gift
of good food, lust abuses God's gift of love, and murder abuses God's
gift of life). Instead of abusing them, we should enjoy these gifts by
using them to serve and honor the Lord. Have you thanked God for the good
gifts He has given? Are you using those gifts in ways pleasing to your
Heavenly Father?
James 1:17, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and
cometh down from the Father of lights...."
Let me share a story of a pleasurable gift that God presented to my son
Luke about two years ago now. At age 8, Luke was already very interested
in becoming a weatherman. He has a favorite weatherman on the local television
station in our area named Leland who he tunes in to whenever it looks
like a storm is on the horizon. One day, our homeschool group at church
tried to get a field trip scheduled to this particular television station
for a tour of their weather tracking facilities. We were informed they
no longer provided such a service.
Unbeknownst to us, the woman in charge of organizing field trips for the
homeschoolers at our church thoughtfully left word with the station that
my son Luke would love to hear from Leland the weather man if possible,
and left our phone number with them. Well, just two days after a tornado
hit our home, Leland the weatherman called Luke personally and spoke to
him on the phone for several minutes! Of course, my son received great
pleasure from speaking to this kind man who took the time to call my son.
Not only did he call, he also invited Luke on a personal tour of the weather
station and to stay and watch Leland do the morning show on television!
Ladies, can you imagine the pleasure my son received in all this?? It
was a blessing to my mother's heart! When Luke hung up the phone, I promptly
pointed out to Him that this opportunity was a gift from the Lord, a desire
of Luke's heart that God had given him. Luke quickly replied that he realized
this and without a moment's hesitation asked my husband if he would be
sure to speak to Leland about the Lord to make sure that he was saved.
Luke, without knowing it, was desirous of using a gift that God had given
him for God's good pleasure too, by caring about Leland's soul! What a
lesson for me as a mother.... Do I do the same with the pleasures my heavenly
Father has sent my way, or do I seek them out and enjoy them just for
myself?
Job 36:11, "If they obey him and serve him, they shall spend their days
in prosperity, and their years in pleasures."
Psalm 144:15, "....happy is that people, whose God is the Lord."
Ladies, what we learn from the Lord in His Word, and what I was reminded
of by my son's example, is that pleasure should not be sought for it's
own sake. Yet how many of us let our pleasure seeking take us away from
the Lord....
Isaiah 58:13-14, "If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing
thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy
of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways,
nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt
thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the
high places of the earth...."
Many people, even Christians, let pleasure seeking keep them from serving
the Lord faithfully. They take a summer vacation from reading their Bibles
simply because the weather is so nice! Many turn off their so-called "ministry
mindset" and leave their convictions at home for the sake of seeking the
pleasure of a few weeks away "from it all". Do you still share the gospel
with lost people even when you are on vacation?? (Maybe you're not even
doing it at home!) Do you still seek out a Bible preaching church to attend
when you are out of town, or is it your chance to steal a Sunday for yourself
and keep your tithe money to spend on extra luxuries.... Some folks stop
going to church faithfully each week so that extra pleasure can be sought
after, whether through boating, fishing, hiking, camping, or just staying
home and cooking out with friends or family. Sad to say, but some even
skip worshipping the Lord in exchange for getting caught up with housework
or yard work... Regardless of the activity, self-indulgence becomes a
way of life rather than self-denial. The cares, riches, and pleasures
of this life have choked folks, and choked the spiritual fruit in the
lives of God's people. We have forgotten what Psalm 16:11 says:
"Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy;
at thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore."
Instead of considering what brings God pleasure, we have turned our back
on Him and set out to nourish our own hearts by seeking after pleasure
more than seeking after the God who provides us with pleasure! In our
haste to pursue pleasure, we have hurried right past it... We have become
as 2 Timothy 3:4 states it, "..lovers of pleasure, more than lovers of
God.." What a grieving realization, amen?
Proverbs 21:17, "He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man: he that
loveth wine and oil shall not be rich."
James 5:5, "Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye
have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter."
Dear lady, if you have been guilty of succumbing to the temptation of
seeking after pleasure more than seeking after God, I strongly encourage
you today to refocus. When pleasure becomes the very business of your
life, it ceases to be pleasure... The only real path to pleasure is in
pleasing God! Don't abuse the gifts that God has blessed you with just
for your own good pleasure, use them to bring glory and honour to His
name!
Romans 8:8, "So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God."
God Bless,
Pam
Isaiah 60:1&2
Copyright 2000
Pamela A. Iannello
