| Grasping for the Wind |
Grasping for the Wind
I said to myself, "Come on, let's try pleasure. Let's look for the 'good
things' in life." But I found that this, too, was meaningless. So I said,
"Laughter is silly. What good does it do to seek pleasure?"
— Ecclesiastes 2:1–2
Joy Davidman, the wife of C. S. Lewis, said, "Living for your own
pleasure is the least pleasurable thing a person can do. If his neighbors
don't kill him in disgust, he will die slowly of boredom and
powerlessness."
It has also been said that the only cure for hedonism is to try to practice
it. If you go after pleasure, you will quickly see the emptiness of it.
Of course, the pursuit of pleasure is nothing new. As Solomon reminds
us a number of times in the Book of Ecclesiastes, when you boil it
down, there is nothing new under the sun. Though our technology has
changed and we have had certain advancements since Solomon wrote
those words, the basic cravings of humanity have not changed. The
basic things people look to have not changed either. The philosophy of
"eat, drink, and be merry" has been with us for a long time.
Solomon once decided to pursue everything this world had to offer.
Then he came to realize there was nothing to profit from under the sun.
It was only when he looked above the sun and looked to God that he
found the answers he was seeking. In other words, when we see God
for who He is, we will see the world for what it is.
If you have a close relationship with God and are walking intimately with
Him, then you will see this world for what it is. You will recognize the
philosophies and concepts and ideologies our culture propagates that
are contradictory to what the Bible teaches. And when you are walking
closely with God, you will see the emptiness and the futility of the things
people chase after.
I said to myself, "Come on, let's try pleasure. Let's look for the 'good
things' in life." But I found that this, too, was meaningless. So I said,
"Laughter is silly. What good does it do to seek pleasure?"
— Ecclesiastes 2:1–2
Joy Davidman, the wife of C. S. Lewis, said, "Living for your own
pleasure is the least pleasurable thing a person can do. If his neighbors
don't kill him in disgust, he will die slowly of boredom and
powerlessness."
It has also been said that the only cure for hedonism is to try to practice
it. If you go after pleasure, you will quickly see the emptiness of it.
Of course, the pursuit of pleasure is nothing new. As Solomon reminds
us a number of times in the Book of Ecclesiastes, when you boil it
down, there is nothing new under the sun. Though our technology has
changed and we have had certain advancements since Solomon wrote
those words, the basic cravings of humanity have not changed. The
basic things people look to have not changed either. The philosophy of
"eat, drink, and be merry" has been with us for a long time.
Solomon once decided to pursue everything this world had to offer.
Then he came to realize there was nothing to profit from under the sun.
It was only when he looked above the sun and looked to God that he
found the answers he was seeking. In other words, when we see God
for who He is, we will see the world for what it is.
If you have a close relationship with God and are walking intimately with
Him, then you will see this world for what it is. You will recognize the
philosophies and concepts and ideologies our culture propagates that
are contradictory to what the Bible teaches. And when you are walking
closely with God, you will see the emptiness and the futility of the things
people chase after.
| C4W Devotions are used by permission from Harvest Ministries with Greg Laurie P.O. Box 4000 Riverside , CA 92514 |