Download A Quest for Meaning-Where Living is a Pleasure!

A Quest for Meaning-Where Living is a Pleasure!
Ecclesiastes 2:1-11,24-26
June 12, 2016
Publix supermarket has a marketing slogan about their stores and
what it is like shopping at a Publix supermarket.
Anyone know the Publix slogan of promise?
"Publix! Where shopping is a pleasure!"
I have brought with me a Publix brown bag with the slogan
printed on it. It is filled with some groceries. I want to dump out
the food and have us fill the Publix bag with "pleasures!"
What are some pleasures in life that people pursue with passion?
(Put food back into bag as people share pleasures)
"A Quest for Meaning," takes us not to Publix today, but to a
place in Solomon's life lab to try to discover the meaning of life.
It is an "experiment with pleasure."
Solomon wrote about this fun-filled pursuit of happiness. He
even listed for us some of the "pleasures" that he placed in his
"Where living is a pleasure" bag.
He talked about laughter: the joy and release that comes with it.
Consumption of fine wine: the taste and feeling it gives.
Building big homes and businesses: sense of pride and
achievement.
Eroticism: the pleasure the body feels when stimulated by music,
sex and personal attentive services.
Prosperity: being number 1 and the satisfaction that comes with
success.
He boasted that he had it all!
He gave into every personal desire for pleasure, his pursuit of
happiness and meaning in life.
He rewarded himself with whatever he desired.
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Solomon conducted his search for life's meaning as an
experiment. Some of us might be saying, "Having whatever you
desire would be a nice experiment to try for a month or two."
He pursued pleasure. He sought meaning in living the life that is
pure pleasure.
But when he emptied out his "Where living is a pleasure" bag he
came to the conclusion that all this pursuit of personal pleasure
was meaninglessness.
Now granted, some of the pleasures Solomon sought were wrong
and some were worthy pursuits. However, when a pursuit of a
pleasure is an end in and of itself...it becomes unworthy. We
need to ask ourselves why do we put in our bag of "Where living
is a pleasure" what we put in it?
The question for us today is this: "Is our goal in life to search for
meaning in personal pleasure or is it to search for God who gives
meaning to our lives?"
There is an ideology in our world known as "hedonism."
Simply stated, hedonism is the pursuit of personal pleasure as
the most important and intrinsic good in a person's life. You
strive to maximize your pleasure minus pain. Sounds good.
But when looked at closely it states that people have the right to
do everything in their power to pursue the greatest amount of
pleasure possible to them as an individual. If it feels good or
pleasurable then I am going to pursue it.
What's the problem with that? Idolatry!
We make a god out of what we take the most pleasure in
pursuing in our lives.
Constant pursuit of pleasure seeking may not give your life
meaning or actual long lasting pleasure.
When a pleasure provides one's needed meaning or significance
in life then that person becomes dependent on increasing
amounts of that pleasure.
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Overly pursuit of pleasures of this world will desensitize us to
God. The things we place in our bag of "Where living is a
pleasure" will be short-lived. They become meaningless.
So where do we find the pleasures of life that are worth pursuing
or living for? What is it we are to put into our bag of "Where
living is a pleasure?"
We begin with David, a man after God's own heart.
We find that David put in his bag of "Where living is a pleasure"
these items:
"trust in the Lord"
"delight in the Lord"
"commit your way to the Lord"
"be still before the Lord" (Psalm 37:4-7)
David calls us in our pursuit of pleasure to take delight in the
Lord. Trust Him! Commit your life to God. Be still long enough
to delight in His presence in your life.
How do we delight in the Lord?
How do we pursue the pleasure of living in God?
To delight in someone means to experience great pleasure and
joy when we are in their presence. This happens only when we
know that person well. We can only get to know that person well
when we spend time with them...are still in their presence.
To commit ourselves to the Lord means that we entrust Him with
everything...our lives, our family members, job, possessions to
God's control and guidance.
To trust God means that we believe He can care for us better
than we can care for ourselves. In all of this we wait patiently on
Him to work all this out for our good according to His glory.
(Romans 8:28)
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Jesus had a word or two about living a life of pleasure. Here is
what He had to say about having a bag full of your pursuit of
personal pleasures:
"What good would it do to get everything you want and
lose you, the real you? What could you trade your soul
for?" (Mark 8:36 Message bible)
Many people spend all their energy seeking pleasure, Jesus said,
however, that a world of pleasure centered on possessions,
position of authority, or power is ultimately
worthless...empty...meaningless.
Whatever you put in your bag of "Where living is a pleasure" is
only temporary. There is an expiration date on all those
pleasures you are pursuing. Whatever you have in your bag
cannot be exchanged for your eternal soul.
You can work hard for all you desire to make you happy in life. It
may be a pleasurable life for a while. But in the end it will
become empty and meaningless.
Are you willing to make the pursuit of Jesus in your life more
important than whatever you have put in your personal bag of
"Where living is a pleasure?" What or who are you pursuing for
pleasure more than Jesus? What good is it for you to be number
one and not have Jesus? Are you willing to trade your life for the
pursuit of empty pleasures? What good is it to have a bag full of
life's pleasures only to have it come up empty or meaningless in
the end?
Jesus talked about different conditions of a person's heart. He
compared it to soil types. There was one that dealt with the
pursuit of happiness and pleasures. He told his followers that if
they pursue the things of this world more than His Word that the
weeds of worry, happiness and pleasure would choke His word
out of your heart. (Luke 8:14)
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What weeds do you need to pull? What's in your bag of personal
pleasure pursuit that you need to get rid of? Don't let your
pursuit of empty pleasures choke out the word of God in your
heart. The word of God remains eternal. We are to delight
ourselves in God's Word. (Psalm 119:16). Is the word of God in
your bag of "Where living is a pleasure?" If not, why not?
Jesus' brother, James, put it out there in no uncertain terms when
he called people who pursue pleasure for themselves as "spoiled
children."
My grandson, AJ, jumped into a swimming pool a couple of
months ago with his cell phone in his pocket! Although CPR was
performed, Cellphone Put in Rice, it couldn't be revived. Needless
to say he was devastated. A cellphone is life for a teenager.
Recently I heard he got a new phone. I was glad to hear that his
parents didn't just go out and buy him a new one. They got the
phone for him with the understanding he will work to pay them
back. There was one other stipulation...he buy a life protection
case for it...in other words...drop proof and waterproof.
I texted my grandson to let him know I heard about his new
phone and congratulated him on his willingness to work to pay
back his parents. I told him this life case lesson would carry him
a long ways on life's road of responsibility. He thanked me and
said he was going to try to be more careful around pools!
James texted the people who were asking or pursuing what they
knew was aimless the spoiled children...wanting your own way.
They were pursuing pleasure at the expense of others. They
were pursuing pleasure in what the world says is meaningful,
even if it was against the will of God.
Pursuing pleasure that keeps us from pursuing God first, is a sin.
We are not to have any other gods before us. James told those
who were pursuing pleasure other than God were evil.
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What is needed then to put in our bag of "Where living is a
pleasure?"
Humility!
The cure for pursuing pleasures that are not of God, that are
worldly, is humility. (Proverbs 16:18). Pride makes us selfcentered. Pride tells us that this life, this bag, is my bag and I
can fill it with what makes ME feel pleasure. Pride tells us we
worked hard and we deserve this pleasure. Pride can create
greedy appetites in us that we cannot fully satisfy. So we get on
this treadmill, hamster wheel, of endlessly trying to fill our bags
with pleasures.
We can be released from these pursuits of worldly pleasures
through humbling our hearts before God in prayer. (James
4:7-10)
This is an emptying of ourselves, our pursuit of worldly pleasures.
Solomon ended his experiment with pleasure, his pursuit of
pleasures with this conclusion:
"A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and
find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see is from the
hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find
enjoyment?" (Ecclesiastes 2:24-25)
Is Solomon recommending we simply fill our bag with a big
irresponsible party? Do we just fill our bag of pleasure living with
whatever makes us feel good?
No! He is calling us to live life, enjoy life, in pursuing the
pleasures of God. True enjoyment in life will only come when we
place in our bag "Where living is a pleasure" God's guidelines for
living.
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Those who really know how to live are the people who take each
new day as a gift from God.
They seek Him first. (Matthew 6:33).
They thank Him and praise Him.
They pursue His will.
They keep His word alive and active in their hearts and lives.
They spend time with Him.
They serve Him by serving others.
Their one desire is to please God!
They delight God by taking care of their family. (I Timothy 5:4)
Real pleasure is living each day for the Lord!
That is our motivation for life!
That is "Where living is a pleasure!"
We get pleasure when we see that the way we are living our lives
pleases our Father in heaven.
What's in your bag of "Where living is a pleasure?"
I want to challenge you that each time you go shopping to ask
yourself what are you putting in your "Where living is a pleasure"
bag of life?
Living for God is where we find true meaning.
Living for God, is where we find living is a pleasure!
What's in your bag of "Where living is a pleasure?"
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