Pleasures Forevermore

By Jessica K. Bunce

How do you measure something’s value?

By how much pleasure it gives you? 

By the words you use to describe it?

By how much it delights and thrills you? 

We naturally pursue pleasure, yet often we desire and pursue pleasure in the wrong things. Because we know this limitation and tendency about ourselves, we are tempted to deny any desires that bring us joy. 

We think:

Desire = bad. Denial = good. 

Accordingly, as Christians, we can begin to think we must deny ourselves pleasure, joy, and happiness in order to please God. 

We erroneously think that somehow our denial will prove our virtue. 

However, this kind of thinking misses the beauty of the Gospel. Instead of denying pleasure, we need to reorient our desires to rightly and passionately pursue and find pleasure in the right thing, the right Person.

We have a Savior who is worth pursuing and delighting in. Jesus is infinitely valuable, infinitely precious, and infinitely pleasurable. 

Because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, where he paid the debt we owe but could never repay, we now have freedom for true joy, delight, and pleasure.  

If we are united to Christ, if we have repented of our sin and placed our trust in his perfect sacrifice, God looks at us now and sees Christ’s righteousness. 

Does that astound you, Christian? 

Does that cause your heart to soar with joy and gratitude? 

Does that truth bring delight and pleasure to your soul? 

Hopefully your heart is stirred by this fact; I pray it is not numb or desensitized to the truth of Jesus’ sacrifice. While it is true that we all go through dry spells where we feel distant from and perhaps cold toward the things of God, these dry spells should be “spells” or “seasons.” These spells should not be the chief characteristic of our lives as redeemed children of God. 

So, when we face these dry spells, what do we do? How do we get out? 

Warm yourself by the fire of God’s Word. 

Read, meditate, think about through your day, the beautiful blessed truths of who God is and what Jesus has done for you. 

Thomas Watson helps us realize the necessity of biblical meditation when he said: 

“The reason we come away so cold from reading the word is because we do not warm ourselves at the fires of meditation.”

This meditation is good because it helps to wash your mind by the water of the Word (Rom. 12:2), to transform your thoughts to be more truthful about God (Phil. 4:8), and to know him more and more (2 Pt. 3:18).

The reality is that the pinnacle of human pleasure is found in knowing, loving, and obeying God. Psalm 16:11 reminds us that in God’s presence, there is fullness of joy; eternal pleasures—pleasures that will never go flat or stale—that are only found in God.

When we seek happiness, delight, and pleasure in God, we glorify Him; further, delighting in God and being fulfilled in Him is one of the greatest means of victory over sin.

The treasure of God’s wonderful being is most glorified through your pleasure and delight in Him. So then to pursue God is to pursue pleasure. 

We glorify God by enjoying Him. 

Do you value God in this way? 

Do you delight in who God is?

Do you find your joy in Him? 

Do your words show that you value Him? 

Do you value your salvation?

I encourage you to ask yourself these heart-probing questions, repent where you fall short, and resolve to delight in the Lord more and more each and everyday.

Suggestions:

Passages to read and meditate on:

Psalm 16

Philippians 4

Songs to listen to:

“Jesus, Strong and Kind” and “The Goodness of Jesus” by City Alight

“Tis So Sweet” by Shane and Shane

“We Marvel at Your Wondrous Word” by Nathan Clark George

“I Will Sing” by Sandra McCracken

Books for further study:

Desiring God by John Piper

Delighting in The Trinity by Michael Reeves