- Jun 29, 2019
- 651
- 169
- 60
- Country
- United States
- Faith
- Christian
- Marital Status
- Married
What does the Bible have to say about pleasure? Proverbs 21:17 says, “Whoever loves pleasure will be a poor man; he who loves wine and oil will not be rich.” If that were the only verse in the Bible that addresses pleasure, it would appear that any sober-minded person who wishes to be fruitful in everything done and in what their labors bear, should avoid pleasure at all costs, lest it destroy them. But that’s not the only verse in the Bible on the subject. And before we consider this verse we should consider what else is written in the Bible about pleasure, inasmuch as 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says that ALL scripture is breathed out by God for training, reproof, teaching and correction, that the person of God be equipped for every good work.
So, the first stop is the Book of Ecclesiastes. One may wonder if a Book as morbid as that one has anything uplifting to say about pleasure, but in fact it has some nice things to say about it. Ecclesiastes 2:24 says, “There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and FIND ENJOYMENT in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God...” This passage makes pleasure as an end as opposed to a pursuit that’s on the same level as our labors. So, the immediate goal should not be to pursue pleasure, it should be to work and THEN to enjoy what the fruits of our labor may bring us. Later on, Ecclesiastes 5:18 says “Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to EAT AND DRINK AND FIND ENJOYMENT in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot.”
These two verses give us pause regarding Proverbs 21:17 and perhaps a reading of it other than what we first thought. Proverbs 21:17 addresses the love of pleasure, but we can gather from taking the two Ecclesiastes passages into consideration, the Proverbs verse talks about the love of pleasure as being exclusive of things like work. That is, we will be poor if our primary goal is to pursue pleasure. Getting high on weed is a pleasure, but if that’s all we do, we are not being fruitful. Likewise, if we are left with an inheritance, and our goal is only to spend it on pleasure without doing any work, that inheritance will eventually disappear, hence the “poor” part of pursuing pleasure.
Under God, a person’s worth is measured in terms of output, not in terms of possessions. God in Genesis put Adam in the garden of Eden to WORK it. He also commanded Adam and Eve to be fruitful. One cannot be fruitful unless one has output. And in terms of a person’s value under God, one could have all the weed in the world fall into his lap, but he would have no value. He can’t take it with him when he passes away. But under God, a person’s value is measured in terms of their work output rather than what they have.
And God has meant for us to take pleasure in our work. Ecclesiastes 3:13 says, “...everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God's gift to man.”
What does Jesus say about pleasure? I tell you that it is in line with Proverbs 21:17, if we see that verse as telling of the consequences of loving only pleasure and not doing anything for it. Jesus in Luke 8:14 says, “And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.”
There are moral limits to the types of pleasure we can indulge in. As Psalms 1:1-2 says “Blessed is the man [whose]...delight is in the law of the LORD,” we should only indulge ourselves in the type of pleasures that God would not find to be of evil.
For whatever pleasure under God you want, you should use your work as a means to obtain it, and not to have a goal of solely taking pleasure in the fruits of the labor of others.
So, the first stop is the Book of Ecclesiastes. One may wonder if a Book as morbid as that one has anything uplifting to say about pleasure, but in fact it has some nice things to say about it. Ecclesiastes 2:24 says, “There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and FIND ENJOYMENT in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God...” This passage makes pleasure as an end as opposed to a pursuit that’s on the same level as our labors. So, the immediate goal should not be to pursue pleasure, it should be to work and THEN to enjoy what the fruits of our labor may bring us. Later on, Ecclesiastes 5:18 says “Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to EAT AND DRINK AND FIND ENJOYMENT in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot.”
These two verses give us pause regarding Proverbs 21:17 and perhaps a reading of it other than what we first thought. Proverbs 21:17 addresses the love of pleasure, but we can gather from taking the two Ecclesiastes passages into consideration, the Proverbs verse talks about the love of pleasure as being exclusive of things like work. That is, we will be poor if our primary goal is to pursue pleasure. Getting high on weed is a pleasure, but if that’s all we do, we are not being fruitful. Likewise, if we are left with an inheritance, and our goal is only to spend it on pleasure without doing any work, that inheritance will eventually disappear, hence the “poor” part of pursuing pleasure.
Under God, a person’s worth is measured in terms of output, not in terms of possessions. God in Genesis put Adam in the garden of Eden to WORK it. He also commanded Adam and Eve to be fruitful. One cannot be fruitful unless one has output. And in terms of a person’s value under God, one could have all the weed in the world fall into his lap, but he would have no value. He can’t take it with him when he passes away. But under God, a person’s value is measured in terms of their work output rather than what they have.
And God has meant for us to take pleasure in our work. Ecclesiastes 3:13 says, “...everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God's gift to man.”
What does Jesus say about pleasure? I tell you that it is in line with Proverbs 21:17, if we see that verse as telling of the consequences of loving only pleasure and not doing anything for it. Jesus in Luke 8:14 says, “And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.”
There are moral limits to the types of pleasure we can indulge in. As Psalms 1:1-2 says “Blessed is the man [whose]...delight is in the law of the LORD,” we should only indulge ourselves in the type of pleasures that God would not find to be of evil.
For whatever pleasure under God you want, you should use your work as a means to obtain it, and not to have a goal of solely taking pleasure in the fruits of the labor of others.
