Going to Jesus

Daily Thoughts

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Thought for Today
Feb. 28

"RICHLY ALL THINGS TO ENJOY", PART FOUR

Lesson: Pleasure is God's creation, to be enjoyed with humility and thanksgiving.

The world would have you to believe that there is no joy in holy living, but then, the world's picture of God is as twisted as the world is. The world substitutes "fun" for joy and then mocks those who have joy in their souls instead of pursuing worldly fun. But, my friends, GOD created laughter, not the world. God created peace, not the world. God created pleasure, not the world. If God were the kind of Being that this world would have young people to believe He is, there would be no such thing as lovely flowers dotting the landscape, no sweet aromas in fields of honeysuckle. There would be no spectacular sunsets, no brilliant sunrises that thrill man's soul and fill his senses, no pleasant breezes on warm summer evenings. There would be no moonlight on fallen snow, no special moments of tenderness with a child. If God were really the way that carnal men think He is, there would be no such thing as happiness, nor even a smile.

Understand this! God created beauty and sweetness, and "at His right hand there are pleasures forevermore." No one wants you to enjoy life as much as God does. And no one can lead you into a life of happiness and pleasure the way God will, if we obey Him.

This "wicked and adulterous generation" would have us all to think that pleasure itself is ungodly. The whole culture in the United States in our time, it seems, is geared toward leading young people into a life of fornication, as if one must disregard the commandments of God in order to enjoy pleasure, and as if fornication makes people happy and successful. The attitude in this country toward physical pleasure is abominable. It betrays an abysmal ignorance of God who created the physical pleasure that a man and his wife may enjoy-and it was not accidentally created!

This past March, I walked into the room where John David, my son, was watching the national collegiate basketball championship. There being a break in the action, a commercial came on the television, a commercial advertising beer. In this commercial, a young man and a young woman were in a hotel room, standing beside a bed, a noise representing fornication was being made in the room next to theirs, and they looked at each other admiringly. Words then appeared on the screen that said, "Never miss an opportunity." Now, the developers of that advertisement knew that a vast audience of young people would be watching the championship ball game that night. They purposely designed that commercial for the eyes and hearts of millions of our children. And their very clear message was, "Take advantage of every opportunity to get drunk and commit fornication. That is fun. That is the good life." How can this generation have pure thoughts concerning intimacy between a man and a woman when they are pummeled constantly with such filthy garbage?

As with every good thing God has ever given to man, man has taken the gift of intimacy between a husband and wife, something that is beautiful, something that is precious, a gift of God to man, and twisted it and dirtied it. Men promote their twisted version of that pleasure in their schools, in their newspapers, on their televison programs, in their social programs, and in their movies. And in seducing young people to seize upon that sacred gift as just another way to have physical fun, wicked men have stolen forever from untold millions of young people worldwide the pure joy of it and the thankfulness that should fill man's heart for it.

God is unwilling that His people should be so in bondage to this world's filthy spirit that we can no longer think of His gift of marital pleasure as something clean. When we know God, we see life, and all its elements, as God sees it. But at the present time, God's children are so inundated with the world's twisted, guilt-ridden version of the relationship that belongs to a husband and wife that we are in danger of having our conscience seared with the hot iron of shame when we even think of it. The mind of Christ, once we have attained to it, rejoices with excitement and thanksgiving for the love of God toward us in creating pleasure for us to enjoy. The physical relationship between married children of God is not something dirty; it is not something God's children should be ashamed of WHEN it is partaken of in God's time and with God's appointed mate. Should we feel guilty for enjoying our spouses just because the whole world is perverse and guilt-ridden? I refuse to surrender my right in Christ to enjoy my gift from my heavenly Father with a pure conscience.

Paul encouraged the saints not to "be overcome by evil but to overcome evil with good." If we are spiritual, we will overcome the evil of the world's view of God's gift of intimacy with the goodness of a godly view of it. The spiritual man refuses to surrender his thoughts to the filthy spirit of this age; rather, he will joyfully participate in the act of marital intimacy, in God's time and manner, with humility and thanksgiving.

As a young man, I can recall an occasion when this subject came up in a conversation with my father. He was referring to his own experiences, to the foolishness of his immoral younger days, and also to God's gift to him of my godly mother. And in reference to the marital relationship between a man and woman whom God joins together, my father said "Even that is better. God makes that even better."

We protect ourselves and our children from the corrupting influence of the world's view of anything by putting into practice the healing power of the Lord's view of it. God created the physical relationship between a man and a woman for our benefit and joy, and the way He created it, it is good. Remember, He told Adam and Eve to produce children BEFORE they fell into sin.

Listen to God's instruction to young married men: "Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well. Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets. Let them be thine only, and not a stranger's with thee. Let thy fountain be blessed, and rejoice with the wife of thy youth. Let her be as the loving hind, and as the pleasant roe. Let her breasts satisfy thee at all times, and be thou ravished with her love" (Prov. 5:18-19).

Now, the word "ravished" has a powerful connotation. It can mean to be forcibly seized and dragged away. It can mean to be removed from earth, or to be transported from one state or another by the power of some emotion. It can also mean to be filled with ecstasy or delight. In any case, "ravished" implies no half-way experience. It is extreme. Solomon is encouraging a young, married man to rejoice with all his heart with his wife before the Lord.

Listen to the words of God concerning the righteous patriarch, Isaac: "I will establish My covenant with him" (Gen. 17:19).

And listen to some of the things the Bible tells us of the great man Isaac: Even though Abraham had a number of sons, only through Isaac would the promises of God to Abraham be in effect (Gen. 21:12). Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac (Gen. 25:5). God gave the land of Canaan to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Gen. 35:12). Jehovah told Jacob that He was the God of Isaac, his father (Gen. 28:13). Again, God tells Moses that He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Ex. 3:6). According to Jesus, Isaac is with God right now (Lk. 13:28). Isaac was a great man of righteous faith toward God (Heb. 11:20).

The carnal mind would have you to see this great man of God as a dour, withered old man who was out of touch with a truly happy life. But the mind of Christ sees him as an eternally young man, full of love of life and vigor. Reconfigure your ideas of righteousness to include in this righteous man's life an intimate and happy relationship with his wife. We are told that once, when Isaac was in the territory of Philistia, the king of that country "looked out at a window, and saw Isaac sporting with his wife" (Gen. 26:8). We do not know exactly what Isaac and Rebekah were doing, but we may safely assume these three things: (1) they were not praying and reading the Bible together, (2) whatever they were doing, there was no sin involved, and (3) whatever it was the king saw that day let him know for certain that Rebekah was Isaac's wife, not his sister, as Isaac had claimed she was.

Do you really think you have to transgress the commandments of God, young man, to have a happy, fulfilled life? Read these excerpts from the Song of Solomon, a love song from the lips of two young people deeply in love:

The young woman, in 1:4

Draw me, we will run after thee: the king hath brought me into his chambers. We will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine: the upright love thee.

The young woman, in 12-14

While the king sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof. A bundle of myrrh is my well beloved unto me; he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts. My beloved is unto me as a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of Engedi.

The young woman: 2:3-7

As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love. Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples, for I am sick with love. His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me.

I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please.

The young man: 4:1-7

Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves' eyes within thy locks: thy hair is as a flock of goats, that appear from mount Gilead.

Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep that are even shorn, which came up from the washing; whereof every one bear twins, and none is barren among them.

Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet, and thy speech is comely. Thy temples are like a piece of a pomegranate with thy locks.

Thy neck is like the tower of David builded for an armory, whereon there hang a thousand bucklers, all shields of mighty men.

The young man: 4:9-15

Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse; thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, with one chain of thy neck.

How fair is thy love, my sister, my spouse! How much better is thy love than wine! And the smell of thin ointments than all spices!

Thy lips, O my spouse, drop as the honeycomb; honey and milk are under thy tongue; and the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon.

A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed.

Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphire, with spikenard,

Spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices:

A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon.

The young woman: 4:16

Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits.

The young man: 5:1a

I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse. I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk.

The young woman: 5:1b

. . . drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved.

Now, how can anyone read these things and think that one must sneak around and disobey God in order to enjoy pleasure? To believe that is to betray a warped view of God, a view promoted by the world, and a view that burdens the hearts of millions upon millions with shame and guilt, even though they are doing nothing evil, because they do not know God. They are hiding from the One who created for them the very pleasure they enjoy, but the world has poisoned their minds with wrong ideas about the Creator. You do not have to sneak around to enjoy the pleasure God freely gives you. In fact, if you are among those who sneak around to obtain pleasure, you cannot enjoy it because a sense of guilt disturbs your heart. How many people stay frustrated because they cannot find that perfectly satisfying pleasure in the darkness of their hiding place! Sin makes pleasure an unfulfilling, frustrating experience. Sin ruins everything.

The Song of Solomon is a majestic parable of the sweet, spiritual communion of Christ and his bride. It uses as a parable a young man and a young woman who are absolutely consumed with passion and love for one another. It was the time in their lives when nothing but each other mattered, and nothing else at that time in their lives was supposed to matter! Their sole attention was upon their mate from God.

The Song of Solomon is more than a parable, however. It is also a glorious prophecy of the Bride of Christ and Jesus at the time when she is prepared for his return. He will not return until his bride is "without spot or wrinkle", and his bride who is "without spot or wrinkle" are those saints whose whole attention is consumed by the love of God, whose sole purpose in life at that moment is to make the Bridegroom rejoice. And it is that pure love that the saints cannot experience if they think of marital intimacy as something dirty or common.

The Song of Solomon tells us that the heights of pleasure are reserved for the upright, not for the wicked. The righteous have the greater pleasures because their pleasure is anointed by God for their health and blessing, while the secret pleasures of the ungodly are always mingled with-and diminished by-fear of discovery. Yes, "stolen waters are sweet", as the adulteress in Proverbs is quoted as saying, but those same waters cause rot in the soul who drinks them, as Solomon also well knew.

The physical relationship of a man and his wife is in reality a small part of the whole relationship, but if that small part is tainted or warped, the whole relationship is adversely affected by it. Jesus is offering to his people a great liberation from the world's warped view both of God and of the pleasure He created if we will only trust him and believe that God has always intended for man to have pleasure-and with it, the joy of a perfectly clean conscience. Remember, the Bible says, "At His right hand are pleasures forevermore." God knows how to make your heart rejoice in purity and holiness!

There is such a thing as the "pleasures of sin", but there is no such thing as experiencing joy and peace with that pleasure. And to the man who loves truth, what real pleasure is there in shameful indulgence in the flesh?

Think on this fact, young person. When a young man in ancient Israel married, God made it a law that not even the king could draft him into Israel's army for at least a year. Neither could that young man be "charged with any business" during that time so that he would be free for an entire year to be at home with his wife and make her happy (Deut. 24:5). Young person, how does that compare to man's idea of a two-week "honeymoon"? And what does that ancient commandment reveal to you about God? Think about what God was feeling toward people when He gave that commandment to Moses! Do you still imagine that God's Old Testament Law was harsh and cold, as many religious teachers would have you to believe?

Young person, don't be fooled by the immoral students you know in your school, or by the friend that has chosen to surrender his or her purity. In pursuing the greatest pleasure by taking the road of sin, they assure themselves that they will not find it. Your immoral acquaintances might want you to believe that by their sin they have obtained something that you do not yet possess. The truth is, they have lost the hope of obtaining something that you can still have if you are faithful to Jesus. Keep yourself pure, and God will grant to you in His perfect time, a special joy that immoral young people will never be able to know, even if now they repent of their sin. God reserves for those who keep themselves pure, and only them, perfect pleasure undisturbed by the torment of condemnation, pleasure with joy and thanksgiving. When sin robs a young person of his or her virginity, that young person loses something that can never be recovered.

Pleasure was God's idea, and the secret to enjoying genuine pleasure is in trusting and obeying Him. The power of pleasure is in His hands alone, and He reserves the blessing of perfect delight for those who love Him. The secret of lasting satisfaction is hidden in Christ Jesus. Young people who pursue pleasure without God are foolish. They have lost the hope of obtaining a precious gift which you who are still upright in heart still may obtain. Hold on to your hope. Strive for the best. Paul encouraged the young man Timothy, "Keep thyself pure" and "be not a partaker with other men's sins." The value of your personal integrity, young person, is greater than you can now realize, but you will see it clearly in time to come.

When I started writing this Thought For Today, I knew that this truth would probably be used by some men who are filled with ungodly lust to oppress their wives with their immoderate desires, saying that great physical pleasure is God's will. But then, ungodly men have always twisted holy things to their own advantage, so why should I expect anything different with this? Those who have ears to hear will hear what I am saying and will rejoice at the more perfect understanding of Jesus and his Father that the truth brings into the heart that receives it.

It is a wonderful, touching thing to hear one's spouse whispering thanksgiving to Jesus and loving you at the same time. This is the beautiful way of God. There is no transgressor who can know that kind of pleasure because transgressors cannot be thankful for what they are doing; nor are they allowed by God to know that joy.

God holds every good and perfect gift in His storehouse. God offers His perfect, untouchable peace only to those who love Him. Out of His secret treasures, He brings to the humble heart a perfect, restful joy, a perfect, unburdened pleasure. God has promised to satisfy completely every thirsty soul who trusts in him. An English rock group once became famous with a song that said, "I can't get no satisfaction." If they had repented of their filthiness and trusted in the living God, they would have found it.