Growing up, I have often wondered why the descriptions of heaven and the promises of God seem to inspire a sense of pleasure; for example, the streets and city of gold as described in the book of revelations, the promised land for the Israelites was described as a land flowing with milk and honey; the blessings of obedience to the law promised to the Israelites, was also described in such pleasure-inspiring form.
Then, I’ve often wondered that my experience was not flowing in this same direction to say the least, I have always associated the pursuit of the things of God as a sacrifice of pleasure, in fact growing up, the very notion of discipline, of right and wrong, was synonymous with the sacrifice of pleasure.
I saw God as a tax master, whose goal was to collect from me anything that was designed to make life fun and interesting. It wasn’t long before it became clear that I wasn’t the only one thinking in this direction. I remember observing with a friend, the journey to faith testimony of a family member, who had lived a life of self-pleasure before coming to faith. After the testimony, my friend remarked that the person testifying had enjoyed his life before coming to faith and that we should be allowed to do so. He was dead serious.
When the Good Seems Bland
There are many kinds of pleasurable experiences, for example, a beautiful landscape inspires a form of pleasure different from that of a good meal or those from human relationships. The source and form of such pleasures could be either legitimate or illegitimate.
A pleasurable experience could be legitimate in a certain scenario and illegitimate in another; in a mind that doesn’t care so much about or have a good understanding of the grounds for the legitimacy of experiences, the pursuit of what is good could always be seen as a denial of pleasure. This posture of the mind could be so ingrained that even the very desire for pleasure could be seen as illegitimate.
There are indeed legitimate pleasures, and it is not the purpose of God to deny us these; He is in fact happy and much willing to lavish us with pleasure.
The Beauty and Dynamism of Legitimate Pleasure
The beauty of legitimate pleasures is that they are intricately bound to the good. In other words, the city of gold is a matter-of-fact description of heaven and not an appeal to heaven; the joys of intimacy in a marriage are an intricate part of a good marriage and not just the rewards of it. In other words, for legitimate pleasure, it is almost impossible to separate the pleasure from the good deed.
In other words, if this pleasure is sought by someone who is not seeking legitimacy, he would not be able to have it. The land flowing with milk and honey cannot be found by just anyone but by only those who have followed the giver of the land. This explains why though many have sought pleasure, few have genuinely found it. Our work, therefore, is not hard; it is to pursue God, to do the good and to enjoy Him and the pleasures intrinsically bound to the flourishing of our good works.
God bless you.
@Nelson
“The works of the LORD are great, sought out of all of them that have pleasure therein. His work is honourable and glorious: and his righteousness endureth forever.” Psa 111:2 -3
Image credit – https://return-of-the-lord-jesus.medium.com/mystery-of-the-heavenly-kingdom-f2d6773a9a7d
