Contrary to what we might expect, the Bible addresses pleasure possibly far more than it does the issue of pain. Solomon’s wrestling with the futility of pleasure is recorded in Ecclesiastes. He lamented:
I wanted to see what was worthwhile for men to do under heaven
during the few days of their lives.
I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no
pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the
reward for all my labor. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands
had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was
meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing, was gained under
the sun.
Does it not surprise you that after years of experimenting and indulging, Solomon said it amounted to nothing?
Solomon’s was not just a harem-filled world of sensuality; he was an artistic genius who penned thousands of proverbs and songs. We miscast him if we forget that he had an immense creative capacity.
Sustaining Solomon’s very thought, psychologists Frank Minirth and Paul Meier say this:
[We] are convinced that many people do choose happiness but still
do not obtain it. The reason for this is that even though they
choose to be happy, they seek for inner peace and joy in the
wrong places. They seek for joy in sexual prowess but end up
with fleeting pleasures and bitter long-term disappointments.
They seek inner fulfillment by obtaining positions of power….
but they remain unfulfilled. I have had millionaire businessmen
come to my office and tell me they have big houses, yachts…
nice children, a beautiful mistress, an unsuspecting wife, secure
corporate positions — and suicidal tendencies. They have
everything this world has to offer except one thing — inner
peace and joy. They come to my office as a last resort, begging
me to help them conquer the urge to kill themselves.
This is a difficult fact to accept when one has not lived it. Yet this ought to cause us to stop and take note of the fact that where unbridled pleasure abounds there is greater need to find life’s overarching purpose.
It is purpose that is prior and pleasure that must be in keeping. And let us be sure that if the purpose is wrong, then pleasure gets wrongheaded too. That is why, we must remember, meaninglessness does not come from being weary of pain; meaninglessness comes from being weary of pleasure. Have you determined life’s purpose yet? God offers that purpose, and pleasure must not violate that purpose.
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Copyright © 2002 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM). Reprinted with permission. “A Slice of Infinity” is a radio ministry of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries.