The Pursuit of Pleasure

The treasures of "The Residence" in Munich, Germany
were a sight to behold and something the world wants to have.

     One of the things we tried to teach our children when they were growing up was not to make thrill seeking and pleasure the center of their lives.  This is not an easy task because our world is so caught up in materialism.  The movies, T.V., and magazines all have guaranteed things which, if purchased, will make you a happy person.
     Even we as adults are easily seduced by the the pursuit of pleasure and peer pressure.  The pressure to conform to our neighbors only grows stronger every day when we hear slogans like:  "You only go around once in life" or "The one with the most toys when he dies wins."  These phrases, sadly, miss the very heart of where real and lasting pleasure are to be found.
     Psalm 16 verses 5-6 and 11 read:  "O Lord, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You maintain my lot.  The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Yes, I have a good inheritance....You will show me the path of life;  In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore."  To these words, I can only say "Amen."  I have tasted in my own life the sweetness of God's portion.  His blessings are rich and deep to those who follow after Him in faith.
     When God is our inheritance, we have more pleasure than any the world can offer for He satisfies our hearts and our longings.  Material possessions can never do that for us.  I have personally known so many friends and even family members who live to "get" and "do" certain things, but it really doesn't make them happy.
     Please do not misunderstand what I am writing.  Jesus said that He came to bring us life and more abundantly.  Our Lord is not asking us to live barren, aesthetic lives.  Rather, He warns us to keep our focus of our hearts right.  I Timothy 6:17 says that God has given us "richly all things to enjoy."  On the other hand, we only have to look at the writer of Ecclesiastes (especially 2:1).  The writer concludes, despite his wealth and pleasure, saying that everything is vanity.  His heart was truly in the wrong place earlier in his life.
     Moderation and balance are the key for us as believers in whatever we do.  Likewise keeping our eyes on the Giver and not the gifts is the most essential task we have.
     In my own life, I have found that no amount of electronic gadgetry, books or other wonderful possessions can ever fill the empty spot in my soul the way the Lord can and does!  Even when we think that a chocolate chip cookie will do the trick, it cannot match the glorious fellowship and inheritance of our God and King.  Having Him at the center of all we do is the key to a blessed, fulfilling life.
     Jesus reminds us in Matthew 6:21:  "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."  So if we wish to check our heart condition, let us ask ourselves where our treasure really lies.  Is it in the world or in our Lord?  May we seek first God and His kingdom and He will provide for us the things that we have need of.  Selah!

Just Wait

 

Just part of our party with family

 This past weekend, we celebrated our oldest son's birthday with a family meal together here in our home.  As always, the grandchildren look forward to the best part of the meal - the cake!  They labored through the meat, potatoes, and green beans that the rest of us savored.  Following the meal, they immediately began to ask for their cake to which the reply from their mothers was "Just wait until everyone is finished."  Oh, it is so hard to wait!
     I remember those days of waiting, when I was small, for my birthday, waiting for Christmas to come, waiting for Easter, waiting to arrive at our destination.  It all seemed to take so long.  Then, as a teen, there were things like waiting till you were old enough to drive or go to the Junior/Senior Prom.  In college, it was waiting in line at the book store to get your college materials, waiting in line at the cafeteria for food and waiting for the big day when you would graduate.  Life is full of many opportunities to wait.  We may not like it, but the end result brings us joy.  If we try to skip or short circuit the process in any way in order to get to our desired end, the results can be disastrous.  God has a time table for our lives from start to finish.
     A good example of someone who could not wait is found in the parable Jesus told of "The Prodigal Son" (Luke 15:11-32).  (If you have not read this parable, take a moment to read it in its entirety.)  The youngest son in this story could not wait for his father to die in order to inherit his portion of his father's wealth.  Therefore, he demanded that his father give him what was his due.  Upon receiving it, he went to a far country and spent it in what the Bible calls "reckless living".  This is rather an understatement but our imaginations can paint us the picture.  When all the money was gone, this young man found himself in need as there was a famine in the land.  He ended up feeding pigs to survive.
     At some point, this young man came to himself and realized that he had made a grave error in what he had done.  He decided to return to his father, ask his forgiveness for his sin, and be allowed to be a servant in his household rather than a son.
     When this son was yet a long way off, the father saw him and ran to him.  Not only did he forgive his son but he restored him to his rightful place in the household.  He celebrated with a feast.  However, the older brother who had not rebelled was not pleased with this restoration of his younger brother just as the Pharisees were not happy with Jesus for reaching out to sinners.  This story has many good insights, but the contrast between the young man who could not wait for his inheritance and the long-suffering of the father who waited with love for his return tell us a lot about the character of God and our relationship to Him.
     In the story, the father represents God who has opened His arms to forgive those who repent and commit themselves to Him.  God's patience is infinite.  As 2 Peter 3:9 tells us:  "The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance."  The young man who demanded his share of the inheritance is like those of us who cannot wait on the Lord.  We want what we want NOW!  Our society has taught us instant gratification, and we tend to pray to our "McGod" to give us immediate results.  If we do not get what we want, we try to find a way or make a way on our own steam.  Yet, the circumstances may not turn out as we had hoped because we did not "wait on the Lord".   Just as the Prodigal son found himself feeding the pigs, we may find ourselves wallowing in the same slop because we failed to take the time to wait.
     One of my favorite scripture verses reads:  "...but they that wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk

and not faint."  This is clearly one of the virtues of waiting for the Lord.  When we pray, we need to commit ourselves and our concerns into God's hands.  His timing is perfect because He knows the beginning and the end of all things.  Often God tarries to see if we will trust Him with the matter completely.  He may even test us and try us, but if we truly want the best answers, we will wait upon the Lord.

More fun at the gathering

     Think for a moment how the story of the Prodigal Son would have ended if the young man had been patient to wait upon God's timing.  He would not have had to suffer the consequences of his impulsive sin nature that rebelled against his father's care.  God patiently waits for us as sinners to return to Him when He calls us.  Then, when we come to Him, He asks us to be holy as He is holy and display the fruit of the Spirit which is patience.  We are to wait upon His wisdom, His guidance and His timing in our lives.  When we do, we will find our lives fruitful, blessed and rich in Christ.  We must never depend upon emotion, impulsive desires, or our own deceitful hearts when considering important matters as believers.  Rather, we must lean fully upon God's grace and wait for Him.  If we do, we, too, will mount up with wings as eagles and run and not be weary.  Selah!

In the Eye of the Beholder

 

   While I was cleaning out a cupboard yesterday evening, I ran across what I consider to be a very valuable possession.  Now to others visiting my home, they would not consider these items valuable, but they mean a lot to me.  What are these items?  They are old, brown custard cups made out of ceramic.  Their value lies not in their appearance, but in what they symbolize to me.
     When I had polio, my grandmother used to make me homemade custard since I had difficulty in swallowing.  I can honestly say it was the best custard anyone ever made! After I fully recovered from polio, I had many bouts with bronchitis, so I had many more opportunities to taste my grandmother's homemade custard.  I do believe she thought this would cure anything.
     When my grandmother died, the family asked me what I would like to have from her home.  I asked for those old, brown custard cups because they held more than custard as far as I was concerned.  They represented the memories of love and effort spent on my behalf.  I know everyone in the family thought I was crazy, but I know they just didn't understand how valuable these items were to me.
     In the same way, we are of great value and importance to our heavenly Father as well.  Read Romans 5:7-8:  "For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die.  But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
     God didn't ask us to clean up our lives before He would reach out to us.  No, instead, He sent His beloved Son to die for us while we were still sinners in rebellion.  He looked beyond the crusty, dirty exterior of our lives and saw in us a soul worth saving.  This is the greatest kind of love.  Before we loved Him, He loved us.  When we stop and think about that, we can only marvel.
     There have been many times when most of us have felt less than adequate for a task or less than attractive by the world's standards.  However, God saw beauty and value in our lives.  He made us by His hands and then, even when we rebelled against Him, He loved us.
     None of us are judged by the world's standards in the end.  Satan would like us to think we are; but Jesus broke through that curtain of deceit and ripped it from top to bottom opening the throne room of God Himself for us.  He did it because He loved us.
     So today, if we are feeling down or like a failure, we need to remember this scripture and embrace it.  Let us take this Word of the Lord to our hearts and let it heal our feelings of inadequacy.  We are complete and whole by the power and love that raised Jesus from the dead.  May that love penetrate every area of our lives so we may fully worship the Lord who did this for us!  Selah!