Ecclesiastes 2:1-11 ---- I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure...All was vanity and grasping for the wind. --Ecclesiastes 2:10-11 -- I always look forward to summer. The warm sunshine, baseball, beaches, and barbecues are pleasures that bring joy after a long, cold winter. But pleasure-seeking isn't just seasonal. Don't we all enjoy good food, engaging conversation, and a crackling fire?
The desire for pleasure isn't wrong. God has built us for it. Paul reminds us that God "gives us richly all things to enjoy" (1 Tim. 6:17). Other passasges welcome us to the healthy pleasure of food, friends, and intimacy of a marriage relationship. But thinking that we can find lasting pleasure in people and things is ultimately an empty pursuit.
Ultimate pleasure is not found in the short-lived thrills our world offers, but rather in the long-term joy from a deepening intimacy with our Lord. King Solomon learned this the hard way, "I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure," he admitted (Eccl. 2:10). But after his pleasure-seeking spree, he concluded: "All was vanity and grasping for the wind" (v.11). It's no wonder he warned, "He who loves pleasure will be a poor man" (Prov. 21:17).
What we are really looking for is satisfied only in a fulfilling and growing relationship with Jesus. Pursue Him and taste His delights! --- Are we living for our own pleasure, or living to please our heavenly Father?
ODB/JS
Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." [John 14:6]
