The way this world tries too function, and the way God designed us to live, are two very different things indeed. According to the dictionary, hedonism is “the ethical theory that pleasure (in the sense of the satisfaction of desires) is the highest good and proper aim of human life.” This could not be further from the truth, but this is the way the fallen world lives, isn’t it? The truth is, “the highest good and proper aim” of every human being is to live a life that glorifies our Creator God. Certainly after we have surrendered our lives to Jesus as Savior and Lord, our lives should no longer be lived with our focus on pleasing ourselves. We are supposed to seek to please Him with every thought, word and deed. Do we? One of my favorite verses in the Psalms speaks about this very thing: “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.” (19:14 NLT)
Given all that, it would seem logical to understand that we have two, very opposing, choices we can make in life: either we live to please Self OR we live to please God. Here’s the thing: if we choose to please Self, that will last a very short time and give us no lasting rewards. But if we choose to please God, WE will get pleasure out of it too, as well as eternal rewards. And there are three possible results from these choices. This is like the three choices we have when it comes to money: we can waste it, spend it or invest it. Let’s talk about that tomorrow…
<>< Peace, Diane
