I started reading Gary Thomas’ Pure Pleasure the other day, and I found one of his opening premises to be right on the money. He writes, “Spiritual triumph begins and ends with finding our satisfaction in God above all things.” He argues that the best way to deepen relationship with God and find true spiritual transformation is to find our joy and pleasure in Him, instead of being frightened into obedience.
There are two ways to encourage a walk with God, one through fear of the consequences of sin, and the other through love of God. We ought to never ignore or stop paying attention to how sin robs us of life and destroys our relationships, but we need to pick up the theme of love and joy and pleasure in God.
Are we excited about what life with God in this world can be like? Or are we afraid of what sin will do to us? Both questions are valid, but for some reason we tend to ignore the first and most enduring reason for life with Christ.
Do I seek God because I love Him? Do I want His life in mine because I am spellbound by His glory? Does my heart long for the beauty and majesty of God?
There are two ways to encourage a walk with God, one through fear of the consequences of sin, and the other through love of God. We ought to never ignore or stop paying attention to how sin robs us of life and destroys our relationships, but we need to pick up the theme of love and joy and pleasure in God.
Are we excited about what life with God in this world can be like? Or are we afraid of what sin will do to us? Both questions are valid, but for some reason we tend to ignore the first and most enduring reason for life with Christ.
Do I seek God because I love Him? Do I want His life in mine because I am spellbound by His glory? Does my heart long for the beauty and majesty of God?
1 comment:
Great post, Phil. I haven't read Pure Pleasure, but it reminds me of John Piper's Desiring God. His aim in writing it was to persuade the reader that the chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever. In our small group, we're going through Crazy Love by Francis Chan. Tonight's discussion was about loving God, and whether we're serving Him out of obligation or because we're in love with Christ. We should be hungering and thirsting for him. If not, we must pray for Him to give us that hunger, increasing our love, which will cause us to want to pray more, which will increase our love for Him--a great cycle to be in.
God Bless,
Mike Reed
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