A Missing Pleasure

A Chapter by Not A Writer

Everyone seeks pleasure. But, this one pleasure has gone missing.

A Missing Pleasure

Throughout the day, one will find that he consistently attempts to fulfill all his pleasures. In reality, one pursues his own satisfaction through any mandatory means necessary. This satisfaction consists of four types of pleasures, three to which are recorded in 1 John 2:16: desires of the body[1], desires of the eyes[2], and the pride of life[3]. The other pleasure, as to which I call, is desire for God. When one desires God, he will find himself completely satisfied.

God satisfies the man who trusts in Him because he is His son. God’s love channels a satisfactory life if we believe in the One He has sent (Rom. 8:28-39). Not only does God’s love give us satisfaction, but also, Jesus’ love for us fulfills our desires (Mt. 11:28; Jn. 6:47-51). The tangent of this paper is to show that by us desiring God, the need to fulfill the other lesser pleasures is diminished. King David of Israel realized this when he sung, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want” (Ps. 23:1). Moses, Israel’s first leader, also recognized this when he said to Israel, “. . . Man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord” (Deut. 8:3). The truths by these ancient leaders still live on today. By desiring God, no other desire needs to be as essential as it used to be.

A man’s pleasures will be satisfied when he learns to treasure the Messiah because God is seen through Christ. Paul Becker states, “Christ is determined by God himself as the place where God can be known.” When Paul the Apostle met Jesus on the Damascus Road, he made a complete 180 turn from his former way of life to a true disciple of Christ. This transformation caused Paul to state many noteworthy sayings, “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ” (Phil. 3:7). Another quote by Paul can be found in Galatians 2:20: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” When Paul was converted, he found himself imitating Christ Jesus. This imitation (or desire) caused him to suffer immense persecution, which is contrary to the desires of the body, desires of the eyes, and the pride of life. When Paul desired Christ, he could say, “For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in Him” (Phil. 3:8).

All of us search to fulfill our missing desires. Whether it be sex, finding a job, delighting in some goal or achievement, we crave fulfillment. And, we cannot help it. But, the search can be over right now, if one turns to the Messiah, believe in Him, and love Him. By finding pleasure in Christ, one will maintain pleasure in God; and when one finds pleasure in God, why must one need anything else? Although the three fleshly desires can be fulfilled in natural means, the desire for God is a missing pleasure that musts be accomplished through Christ.