Wisdom and Warnings about Pleasure

There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and tell himself that his labor is good. This also I have seen that it is from the hand of God.

–Ecclesiastes 2:24

A lot of Christians go to one of two extremes when it comes to pleasure. Some Christians, tired of their own slothfulness and lack of spiritual discipline, decide to go on a hyperintense program: no sweets, no television, no reading anything except the Bible or Christian books, and so on. That restrictive program lasts a couple of weeks–or maybe a couple of hours–before they give up. Some Christians go to the other extreme. They think, If I can’t discipline myself, what’s the use of trying? So they give themselves to a life completely focused on pleasure.

The key is balance. God made us body, soul, and spirit, and that means we have certain natural drives toward pleasure that are God-given. In Ecclesiastes 9, Solomon wrote about the inevitability of death, and he said, “Go then, eat your bread in happiness and drink your wine with a cheerful heart; for God has already approved your works” (v. 7). The Bible says that since we know we’re going to die, we should enjoy the life God has given us. Yes, we also need to work. We need to make sure our relationship with God is right. We need to be investing in eternity. But God doesn’t want us to just endure life here on earth; He wants us to enjoy it. Ecclesiastes 2:22, 24 says, “What does a man get in all his labor and in his striving with which he labors under the sun? . . . There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and tell himself that his labor is good. This also I have seen that it is from the hand of God.” God wired us in such a way that we’re not to work fourteen hours a day, seven days a week, just grinding it out. God wants us to enjoy life.

But the Bible also sounds some warnings about pleasure:

• “He who loves pleasure will become a poor man” (Proverbs 21:17).
• “The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity” (Luke 8:14).
• “In the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, . . . lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God” (2 Timothy 3:1–2, 4).

Pleasure is neither good nor evil in and of itself. But we need to be careful not to become lovers of pleasure.

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Today’s devotion is adapted from “Addicted to Pleasure” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2009.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org.