Devotions from Gary Thomas’ book Pure Pleasure

Our need is to live IN the pleasure instead of living For the pleasure.  When we live In the pleasure, we take time to savor it; that moment becomes sacred. When we live For the pleasure, we often get so tied up with the expectations, fear, anxiety, and a sense of entitlement that we just rush right through it and never really enjoy it. We fear that someone will take it away from us. We need spiritual strength to enjoy pleasure in this world. Without self-control, our passions become like minefields of potential spiritual destruction. “Some of us need permission to embrace pleasure; others need to gain more responsibility and self-control so that they can truly enjoy the pleasures they’ve previously polluted with a lack of discipline.”

We need to seek His kingdom first and His righteousness, and then all the other things will be added as well. When we come to know the Lord we receive a new heart and new desires. And as we delight in Him, He gives us the desires of our hearts. Ps. 37:4.

As we surrender our pleasure to God’s design, our desires become a reflection of His.  As we live this day may we let God redefine and shape what brings us pleasure.