Proverbs 21:15-17. 15When justice is done, it is a joy to the righteous, but terror to evildoers. 16One who wanders from the way of good sense will rest in the assembly of the dead. 17Whoever loves pleasure will be a poor man; he who loves wine and oil will not be rich.
The word joy in verse fifteen and the word pleasure in verse seventeen is the same Hebrew word. What does this tell us? It tells us that it is not the joy or the pleasure that’s the problem. It’s how you go about finding pleasure in this life that can trip a person up.
The person in verse 15 is pursuing justice. Doing justice brings them joy. The person in verse 17, however, is pursuing joy. The pursuit of joy or pleasure only leaves poverty in its wake. And not just financial poverty. Verse 16 warns of the irony of wandering from good sense toward pleasure seeking; this person loses everything – they rest in the assembly of the dead.
This pleasure seeking mindset is not some sort of outlier. It is literally written into America’s founding documents. According to the Declaration of Independence we have been granted the right to pursue our happiness by God himself. But God’s desire is never for us to pursue our own happiness, our own pleasure and joy. His desire is for us to find our greatest pleasure and joy in his presence.
Psalm 16:11. You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
We aren’t made to pursue pleasure. Pleasure pursues us. Pleasure finds us. Where? On the path of life.
The night Jesus was crucified he spoke to his disciples about what was to come. He told them that he IS the path of life (John 14:6). To have Jesus is to have life. And to have his life is to have his joy.
John 15:11. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
Jesus didn’t tell them to pursue their joy. And he definitely didn’t tell them to pursue pleasure. He told them that HE is their joy, their pleasure, their life. In the presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit there is fullness of joy and pleasure forevermore. Now there is no need to go searching anywhere else for your deepest satisfactions, except to search inwardly into the depths of Christ in you.
When you search within, may you find that Christ himself is your peace, your happiness, your joy, your greatest pleasure that the world can never take away and never duplicate. And when you find that Christ is your greatest pleasure, may you then find pleasure in seeking his justice. May bringing joy to the oppressed, however large or small it may be, become one of your greatest joys in this life.
You: Have you been searching for pleasure, or have you let the pleasure of Christ find you?
You in Christ: How does the indwelling life of Christ bring us joythat can’t be obtained from anywhere else?
Christ in you: How might your life look different if you received joy from Jesus rather than looking for joy from other sources?
Pray: Father, may my heart not rest until it finds its rest in you. Amen.
To Live is Christ 