Hey guys! Today I am super excited to introduce my second guest blogger, Jeremy Park. He has been thinking/working on this post for quite sometime and asked me if he could share it on my blog and it is well worth the read. As always, I love sharing other people's stories, so if any of you ever want to share your story on my blog, just let me know!
(This is a picture of Jeremy and his Peruvian twin from his mission trip to Peru earlier this year)
“You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Psalm 16:11
The inevitable pursuit of pleasure
All we want is to be happy. We seek certain things for pleasure, and avoid other things that cause us displeasure. I would even argue that the desire for joy is just as natural and innate as the desire for food or drink or shelter. Every action you commit, you are doing it ultimately for your joy. Let’s just take the example of studying for a test: you study hard for a test because you want to get an A, because an A means colleges will want to accept you, which means you’ll get into a good school, which means you’ll get a good job, which means you’ll have a good life. The simple action of studying for a test is rooted in your joy of wanting to live a good happy life. Blaise Pascal said it this way:
All we want is to be happy. We seek certain things for pleasure, and avoid other things that cause us displeasure. I would even argue that the desire for joy is just as natural and innate as the desire for food or drink or shelter. Every action you commit, you are doing it ultimately for your joy. Let’s just take the example of studying for a test: you study hard for a test because you want to get an A, because an A means colleges will want to accept you, which means you’ll get into a good school, which means you’ll get a good job, which means you’ll have a good life. The simple action of studying for a test is rooted in your joy of wanting to live a good happy life. Blaise Pascal said it this way:
“All men seek happiness. This is without exception. Whatever different means they employ, they all tend to this end. The cause of some going to war, and of others avoiding it, is the same desire in both, attended with different views. The will never takes the least step but to this object. This is the motive of every action of every man, even of those who hang themselves.”
We are, by nature, pleasure-seekers.
The real pleasures that we seek
Hopefully, we have established that the pursuit of joy is inevitable. So what is this “path of life” that David is talking about? Pursuing what shall ultimately fill our hearts with joy?
The real pleasures that we seek
Hopefully, we have established that the pursuit of joy is inevitable. So what is this “path of life” that David is talking about? Pursuing what shall ultimately fill our hearts with joy?
Is it money? Is it working hard, climbing the corporate ladder, accumulating things and vacations and ultimately retiring and living on a beach?
Is it the American Dream? This is the lesser joy that I tend to cling to the most; for me, it’s studying hard every night in order to obtain perfect grades, in order to be accepted into UNC, so I can get a good job that I enjoy, so I can sustain a family and live in a house with a white picket fence.
Is this joy found in a person? In high school especially, relationships are life (#relationshipgoals #bae). We cling to people to find the acceptance we’ve always longed for. Will a girlfriend/boyfriend fill you up? Will they provide the constant supply of love that you need?
Is it found in the praise and approval of people? If simply, I get enough people to love me and cherish me, will my life be full? Should I just work my butt off to be good-looking enough, smart enough, spiritual enough -- will I then be satisfied?
Is it being the best at your sport, or is it being the best dancer or actor/actress? Is it being the best student?
Now, don’t get me wrong, none of the things I have just identified are bad. It’s just that these things become so easily in our hearts what we look to for our ultimate joy. The rejection of God for joy originates back to when Eve rejected the idea that God would supply all her needs, and so she believed Satan and took from the tree. We are now cursed to remain in this cycle of dissatisfaction. Jeremiah 2:13 says:
Is it the American Dream? This is the lesser joy that I tend to cling to the most; for me, it’s studying hard every night in order to obtain perfect grades, in order to be accepted into UNC, so I can get a good job that I enjoy, so I can sustain a family and live in a house with a white picket fence.
Is this joy found in a person? In high school especially, relationships are life (#relationshipgoals #bae). We cling to people to find the acceptance we’ve always longed for. Will a girlfriend/boyfriend fill you up? Will they provide the constant supply of love that you need?
Is it found in the praise and approval of people? If simply, I get enough people to love me and cherish me, will my life be full? Should I just work my butt off to be good-looking enough, smart enough, spiritual enough -- will I then be satisfied?
Is it being the best at your sport, or is it being the best dancer or actor/actress? Is it being the best student?
Now, don’t get me wrong, none of the things I have just identified are bad. It’s just that these things become so easily in our hearts what we look to for our ultimate joy. The rejection of God for joy originates back to when Eve rejected the idea that God would supply all her needs, and so she believed Satan and took from the tree. We are now cursed to remain in this cycle of dissatisfaction. Jeremiah 2:13 says:
“for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.”
So we see in this inevitable pursuit of pleasure, the result of sin causes us to seek other things besides God for our ultimate pleasure.
The only One who will deliver us
If you are honest with yourself, you might find that you aren’t very happy right now. Everything doesn’t give you the same happiness anymore: love has failed you, friends have rejected you, grades have demanded more from you. You may conclude that all pursuits of sustained happiness are futile. That provokes the question: is there something greater out there that will deliver me? Listen to the words of Blaise Pascal:
“What else does this craving, and this helplessness, proclaim but that there was once in man a true happiness, of which all that now remains is the empty print and trace? This he tries in vain to fill with everything around him, seeking in things that are not there the help he cannot find in those that are, though none can help, since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; in other words by God himself.”
YOU make known to me the path of life. In YOUR presence there is the FULLNESS OF JOY. At YOUR RIGHT HAND are PLEASURES FOREVERMORE.
The happiness that you have always desired, the acceptance you’ve always craved, the meaning you’ve always longed for will only be found when you seek joy in Christ. The gospel is that Jesus was rejected and despised for your sake. He took the punishment for your sins, in order that we could be declared beloved sons and daughters. We are now reconciled to God and able to stand in his presence, where ultimate joy is found. Only by Christ’s tears of pain can we cry tears of joy.
An appeal to seek joy in Christ
So if you’re a Christian, if you have accepted the blood of the Lamb as your righteousness, I want to compel you with the question: Is God the object of your pursuit of joy? Or, if you are honest with yourself, do you find yourself finding joy in small, momentary pleasures? Hear the words of CS Lewis:
“…it would seem that our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”
We settle for favorites, retweets, and Instagram likes. We settle for the love of a person to satisfy us when God’s love is all sufficient and enduring. We are comfortable with bread crumbs that fall off the table when a feast is offered to us, free of charge. We complain that we’re thirsty when Jesus himself is living water. Don’t be content with whatever small joys you are currently clinging to for your satisfaction.
The problem is that we aren't serious enough about our own joy. Every time we sin and pursue idols, you are running away from your greatest happiness voluntarily. I think it’d be appropriate for me to say to pursue happiness with everything you have. Do whatever you can to find happiness and the highest form of it. Ultimately, you’ll find that knowing Christ is the highest joy. John Calvin said it incredibly:
“If God contains the fullness of all good things in himself like an inexhaustible fountain, nothing beyond him is to be sought by those who strike after the highest good and all the elements of happiness.”
I also want to clarify that this joy that I’m talking about is not in the things that God will give you. I am not saying that by pursuing God, you’ll get money and prosperity and a healthy life. This joy that I’m talking about is found in enjoying and glorifying God himself. He is his own reward.
“One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.” Psalm 27:4
How to pursue joy
Okay Jeremy, you just said all this about pursuing joy in Christ. Well, what does that exactly mean? Now, this has been one of the hardest battles for me. I’m not an expert on joy; do not think I live daily like Christ is my one true joy and that I don’t struggle with approval of man and idolatry of grades. I’m just going to give some practical ways that I’ve benefitted from in this pursuit of ultimate pleasure.
1. Seek God in His word.
How do you expect to delight in God without knowing Him? By hearing from his Word, we come to find him more attractive and delightful. We learn that God is for our highest joy, because our highest joy is found only in glorifying Him. When God becomes more attractive, only then will we flee from our fruitless idols in order to gain the supremely valuable.
“Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!” - Psalm 34:8
“They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights. For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light.” - Psalm 36:8-9
“Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” - Psalm 73:25-26
Pray that God will enable you to delight in him. You aren’t going to be able to do it alone. We will never be able to muster up the affections He is worthy of. We have cold hearts of stone, requiring the fire of God’s love to melt them. Pray that God would change your affections. Identify and confess the idols you’ve ran after before Him, for “he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)
“Restore to me the joy of your salvation…” - Psalm 51:12
3. Fight the promises of sin with the promises of God
Sin, by its nature, promises much but delivers little. Choose to trust the Promise-Keeper. (Warning: nerd alert) I was in calculus and we were simply discussing the test we had taken the day before. I was panicking because I thought that I had totally messed up, and consequently my entire future was crumbling. I would be lucky enough to get accepted into clown college. However, amidst this struggle, Psalm 4:7 came to mind:
Christ will give me more joy than the guy who has a 5.5 GPA, or who has a full ride to UNC Chapel Hill, or who has endless riches. When I’m seeking the approval of others, I know that God’s approval is all I need. Who is man compared to the one who orchestrates the symphony of nature, who calls the stars by name, who moves mountains, and causes demons to shutter? I can trust him in regards to sexual purity and relationships, because his plan for sex is better than mine. Only by combating the weak promises of sin with the promises of God will we be able to escape sin’s persuasive effects.
St Augustine was a 4th century theologian who greatly has influenced Christianity as we know it today. Despite his incredible faith, sexual passions plagued seasons of his life. But he, as hopefully you and I will, found that Christ was much sweeter than these temptations. May we all be able to say like Augustine:
Sin, by its nature, promises much but delivers little. Choose to trust the Promise-Keeper. (Warning: nerd alert) I was in calculus and we were simply discussing the test we had taken the day before. I was panicking because I thought that I had totally messed up, and consequently my entire future was crumbling. I would be lucky enough to get accepted into clown college. However, amidst this struggle, Psalm 4:7 came to mind:
“You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound.”
Christ will give me more joy than the guy who has a 5.5 GPA, or who has a full ride to UNC Chapel Hill, or who has endless riches. When I’m seeking the approval of others, I know that God’s approval is all I need. Who is man compared to the one who orchestrates the symphony of nature, who calls the stars by name, who moves mountains, and causes demons to shutter? I can trust him in regards to sexual purity and relationships, because his plan for sex is better than mine. Only by combating the weak promises of sin with the promises of God will we be able to escape sin’s persuasive effects.
St Augustine was a 4th century theologian who greatly has influenced Christianity as we know it today. Despite his incredible faith, sexual passions plagued seasons of his life. But he, as hopefully you and I will, found that Christ was much sweeter than these temptations. May we all be able to say like Augustine:
“How sweet all at once it was for me to be rid of those fruitless joys which I had once feared to lose..! You drove them from me, you who are the true, the sovereign joy. You drove them from me and took their place.... O Lord my God, my Light, my Wealth, and my Salvation.”
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