Pleasure

Pleasure is a good thing, a great thing. God wired us to enjoy relationships, laugh, and experience life to the fullest. All things are beautiful when experienced the way God intended. But in this fallen world, in this “life under the sun,” we can pervert pleasure into a god, using money, possessions, and experiences to fill our hearts.

Hedonism, mentioned earlier in our study through Ecclesiastes, is a philosophy of life motivated by the desire for pleasure. Hedonism believes that satisfying one’s desires is the highest good and aim of humanity. Hedonism is a life that sprints toward self-gratification. As the old beer commercial said, “You only go around once in life, so grab for all the gusto you can get.”

Solomon explains that man's existence should be defined by honoring, loving, respecting, and obeying God. That is where we find our true identity. Our spiritual identity cannot be lost because it comes from Jesus.

Paul writes that if God isn’t who he says he is, and this life is all there is, then by all means, “let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die” (1 Cor. 15:32). But Solomon found that hedonism was like chasing after the wind. The target of satisfaction was never hit because God is who he says he is, and this life is not all there is. 

Many people long for life to be a circus of sorts, looking for entertainment and pleasure. That may include using your phone to scroll endlessly through YouTube, watching a daredevil drive her bike off the garage roof onto a homemade ramp that sends her flying into a swimming pool, or 100 interesting animal moments caught on camera. Seeking pleasure might drive you to drink, drugs, or sex.

If your thinking, emotions, and desires are set on what the Holy Spirit desires, you will live your life under his control.

Jesus brings complete satisfaction.

God’s love is something believers need to understand, accept and apply.

God’s love is something believers need to understand, accept, and apply.