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Short-Term Pleasure, Long-Term Despair Go for the gusto. You only live once. Look out for number one. Whatever turns you on.All of these slogans represent commonly accepted concepts of the good life. But, these attitudes fail to take into account the long-term dimension of life, and they certainly ignore the life hereafter. Pleasure seeking has its thrills, but it offers little if anything that will last into eternity. Solomon might have fit right into the modern world with his commitment to enjoying pleasure, gratifying his flesh, enlarging his works, acquiring more possessions than his predecessors, achieving greatness and excellence, and getting for himself whatever his heart desired (Eccl. 2: 1-10). If anyone ever went for the gusto and took care of number one, it was Solomon. He achieved the ultimate in short-term pleasure and instant gratification. Yet eventually, he grieved over the outcome of his life (2: 11, 17-21). His pursuits left him longing for something else. That something else is God. Faith in God moves us out of a self-centered pursuit of life by introducing us to something bigger: We have been created to serve God and other people, not just ourselves. Through service we find significance for the long term. As Moses earlier taught, and Jesus repeated, the greatest commandments are to love God and to love other people (Lev. 19: 8; Deut. 6: 5; Matt. 22: 37-39). If we spend our lives exalting ourselves, we will become enslaved to our own appetites and never find the fulfillment we seek. Pleasure can be a delightful servant - if it is dedicated to God - but it makes a horrible master. Which master do you serve? What drives you? Are you squandering your future on short-term delights, or are you building for eternity? |
:: Giving Ten Percent |