Never before has there been an age like ours, where a person can pursue pleasure in a thousand different ways. About 50 years ago the only games which people could enjoy were chess and checkers. Now there are computer and network virtual reality and role-playing games that are much more exciting. At one time you could not enjoy music at home unless you had a huge gramophone or a valve-radio. Now you can take your music everywhere with portable stereos, discmans and MP3 players. Many people cannot imagine what life will be like without these things.

The influence this has upon us is strong. As Christians we often come into conflict with it. As we encounter various forms of pleasure we face questions like: Should I or should I not get into it? And if I get into it, how far should I go? Where do I draw the line? We must try our best to find scriptural answers to these questions if we earnestly desire not to compromise our relationship with God and our testimony for God. This is especially relevant for those who are now making their year-end vacation plans.

The Christian life is not meant to be devoid of all pleasure and enjoyment. Psalm 16:11 tells us that there are pleasures at God’s right hand for evermore. Pleasure, by itself, is therefore not a bad thing. The word "pleasure" denotes enjoyment, sweetness, which comes from something that pleases us, and brings delight to us. It has to do with our senses. We see, hear, touch and feel the things around us and gain pleasure from them. Pleasure is God’s gift to us. In fact all the things God created are meant to be enjoyed (cf. Genesis 1:31). But pleasure can become bad, and the cause of this is sin. It has caused the downfall of many men, nations and even whole empires. Dear Reader, pleasure can also become the cause of your downfall, if you are not careful.

1. If your desire for pleasure becomes so great that you love it, become addicted to it, and are willing to forsake many important priorities in life to have it, then that pleasure becomes bad (Proverbs 21:17 – "He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man."). Instead of spending time with God and for God, you spend time in your own pleasure. Instead of loving and helping your fellow men the way you should, you love pleasure and seek it for yourself. If pleasure becomes the most important consideration in your life, and you cannot do without it, beware! It shows that you love pleasure, and that is dangerous.

2. If pleasure diverts your trust away from God, then it becomes bad (cf. 1 Timothy 6:17 – "…nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God"). Instead of seeking fulfillment and satisfaction in God, you seek for them in pleasure. Instead of turning to God for comfort and help when you feel upset or depressed, you console yourself by indulging in pleasure and enjoyment. If you turn to pleasure instead of God to meet these needs, beware! Your trust is misplaced.

3. If pleasure hinders you from obeying the Word of God, and from becoming a fruit-bearing Christian, then it becomes bad (Luke 8:14 – "…choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection."). Perhaps there were times when your heart was touched by a stirring message from God’s Word in the worship service, and you resolved to change for the better. But just after that you got involved in some fun activity, and the whole impact of the message was lost! While enjoying yourself, you soon forgot the lessons that could have effected a needful change in your life.

4. If the seeking of pleasure involves sin, then obviously it becomes bad. Sometimes, however, the pleasure that is sought does not involve any act of sin but is associated with sin or with a sinful lifestyle – one that is characterized by self-centredness, rebellion to authority, indifference to God and to the truths of His Word. We call this kind of pleasure ‘worldly pleasure’, because it is so closely identified with the ungodly value system of the world. God commands us not to love the world, neither the things that are in the world (1 John 2:15). Keep away from expressions and products of the sinful, rebellious world such as rock music, trashy literature, outrageous dressing, pubbing and disco dancing. This includes a big proportion of the shows and music videos (MTV) that are churned out by the entertainment industry today.

Some may say: "But these things are merely cultural. We must not be so narrow-minded. They are neutral and it is alright to enjoy them." Not all cultural things are neutral. Since the Fall of man, culture has reflected his own sinful nature. Although many cultural things are not bad – and there are good literary works, music, poetry, art and also wholesome entertainment which do reflect the image of God in man – there are also many things in culture which are products of his sinful nature. They express ideas of corruption, futility, permissiveness, rebellion, self-centred pride and ambition. If we say that all these are merely cultural, and immerse ourselves in enjoying them, we will soon be adversely affected by them!

1. Seek your chief pleasure in the time you spend with God. According to our Shorter Catechism, man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. He should be your greatest source of pleasure (Song of Solomon 5:16 – "…He is altogether lovely"). The pleasures associated with God are real, deep, complete, satisfying and eternal. When we spend time alone with the Lord, we will enjoy a deep sense of delight and pleasure (Psalm 16:11 – "…in Thy presence is fullness of joy"). It is a foretaste of heaven! The best part of all is that the pleasures are lasting. They do not vanish away the way that earthly pleasure does. If we can find full satisfaction in God alone, then all other pleasures in this world will no longer attract us as much as they did before. And even if we lose them or have to forsake them, we will not feel a sense of loss.

2. Keep yourself away from all sinful pleasures. If you have to steal to obtain pleasure, that pleasure is wrong. If you must tell a lie to obtain pleasure, that pleasure is not for you. If you must hurt someone or even yourself in order to derive pleasure, that pleasure is wrong. That is why it is wrong to smoke, drink alcohol, take drugs, or overeat. Keep away from any pleasure that involves breaking any of God’s commandments. This includes sexual pleasure outside marriage (2 Timothy 2:22).

With regard to forms of pleasure that may not be sinful, but are closely identified with the sinful lifestyle of the world, you must learn to exercise discernment between what is good and bad in culture. Questions often arise about where to draw the line. For instance, between rock music and classical music, there are many gradations of types of music, forming a continuum. A person may say, "Okay, I won’t listen to rock music any more, but what about pop music? or country and western? or folk music? How close can I get without overstepping the line?"

If you understand the issues at stake well enough, you would not ask how far you can go in seeking questionable forms of pleasure. If you understand the danger that comes from associating yourself with sinful lifestyles and the folly of loving the world and the things that are in the world, and if you treasure your relationship with God and your good testimony for Him, then you should be asking instead, "How far can I safely keep myself away from these things?" And whenever there is the slightest doubt in your mind that God would approve of the pleasure in question, you should give it up.

3. Receive good pleasures from God with thanksgiving. All the good things in life, including the pleasures you enjoy, must always be seen with reference to God. A Christian does not look at them as just things by themselves anymore, but always recognising God as the Maker and Cause of all things, acknowledging the fact that He gave them to you out of His love and kindness. This is very different from the way that the world perceives pleasures and good things in life. They see them as their rights, as things they deserve to have for all their efforts. As a result, when a person does not get to enjoy some good thing or pleasure, he feels that he has an unfair deal in life. He feels deprived of his fair share. On the other hand, a person who has all the good things and pleasures he wants, feels that it is his right to have them all.

Since God is the One responsible for bringing all the good things into our lives, we ought to regard them as things we should be thankful for, and as things that must never be put before God in priority. If, for the sake of doing God’s will, we cannot have something that we desire, we should not feel sore about it. God comes first, and this sometimes requires us to give up certain legitimate pleasures, or to limit them.