Why you should should intentionally seek pleasure
This from page 33 of Michael Horton's book Putting Amazing Back into Grace: Embracing the Heart of the Gospel,
To the question, “What is the chief end of man?” the Westminster Shorter Catechism leads of with its famous answer: “To glorify God and to enjoy him forever.” What a loaded sentence! There is a sense, then, in which were created to take pleasure in God as well as his taking pleasure in us. In fact, it is the purpose of earthly pleasures and joys to raise our senses to the enjoyment of God. This means that as long as our pleasure-seeking is calculated to be, in the end, a form of God seeking, it is an acceptable and, in fact, godly pursuit. Imagine the implications of this sort of thinking! We see it throughout the Old Testament, in the history of a life-loving and world-embracing people who, at their best, squeezed the juice out of life’s every grape in order to participate in the fullness of “enjoying God forever.” It is the story of a man, God in the flesh, who not only saw fit to bless the union of a husband and wife, but also provided a miraculous vintage of wine to celebrate the occasion. No one can appreciate the Hebrew/Christian understanding of creation and remain insensitive to its world-affirming character.
To the question, “What is the chief end of man?” the Westminster Shorter Catechism leads of with its famous answer: “To glorify God and to enjoy him forever.” What a loaded sentence! There is a sense, then, in which were created to take pleasure in God as well as his taking pleasure in us. In fact, it is the purpose of earthly pleasures and joys to raise our senses to the enjoyment of God. This means that as long as our pleasure-seeking is calculated to be, in the end, a form of God seeking, it is an acceptable and, in fact, godly pursuit. Imagine the implications of this sort of thinking! We see it throughout the Old Testament, in the history of a life-loving and world-embracing people who, at their best, squeezed the juice out of life’s every grape in order to participate in the fullness of “enjoying God forever.” It is the story of a man, God in the flesh, who not only saw fit to bless the union of a husband and wife, but also provided a miraculous vintage of wine to celebrate the occasion. No one can appreciate the Hebrew/Christian understanding of creation and remain insensitive to its world-affirming character.
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