desire

for the last couple years or so i've considered myself a "Christian Hedonist". some people who are older than me find that term offensive or crude. i don't really blame them. in the past the term "hedonist" was used a lot and understood to relate to people who sought sexual pleasure at any cost. the true definition of the term is simply "a person whose life is devoted to the pursuit of pleasure and self-gratification" (dictionary.com). so, it's not strictly related to sexual pleasure, instead it's the general pursuit of pleasure.

the duo of Sam Storms ("one thing" and "pleasures evermore") and John Piper (mostly his sermon "Quest: Joy; Found: Christ") convinced me of the truth of Christian Hedonism. Basically it's based on the observation that all people pursue pleasure. all people. no matter who you are. ultimately, the thing you are pursuing is pleasure. that's how we are wired. you can try to deny it, but the reason you'd try to deny that you seek pleasure is so that you can be humble, perhaps because God called you to be humble. and why do we humble ourselves? because we are following Him. and why do we follow Him? so that we can enter His presence for eternity. and Psalm 16:11 tells us that in His presence is fullness of joy, at His right hand are pleasures evermore (see also James 4:10).

even in Matthew 16 where Christ tells us to deny ourselves...denying yourself is NOT the ultimate goal. look at the passage again. the ultimate goal is to find your life, to preserve your life, to have eternal life. which, again, ends in pleasures evermore.

I also see it ALL over the Scriptures. Most notably Psalm 119. I love Psalm 119. William Wilberforce had this Psalm memorized (all 176 verses) and would recite it as he walked to and from work. I want the same attitude this psalmist had.

Recently I was introduced to Jimmy Needham. An amazing musician with a HEART (desire) for Christ. His songs are amazing and chock-full of allusions to Scripture. Check out the first verse to his song "For Freedom" (itself an allusion to Gal. 5:1)

oh to be
delighted by You
and to see
the colors of
Your Train
and to be
freed by You
it would be
it would be
it would be
my claim to fame
so rejoice my friend
because my friend
you've got a Friend indeed
yeaaaha....
it is for freedom He set us free.

Jimmy Needham
"For Freedom"

"oh to be, delighted by You" is my desire. my hope. my aim. as i grow, i am more and more convinced that the more i fall in love with Christ, the more i am delighted by Him, the more i find my pleasure in Him...then i will realize how pale and even putrid sin is. often times sin looks good to us. but, as Sam Storms says in his book "Pleasures Evermore", "Sin becomes ugly and is subject to defeat only when viewed in light of Christ's beauty."

my desire is to fall in love with Christ. to find my pleasure in Him.

look how beautiful our God is...

"the colors of Your train" is an allusion to Isaiah 6 where we see "the train of His robe filling the temple", a magnificent picture of our God. the colors would be a picture of the beauty and multifaceted-ness (that's a word, right?) of God's glory. A train is a picture of royalty. The bigger a king's train, the more majestic and royal he is. Our God's train FILLS the temple. not just any temple. this is the temple in Heaven, the temple of the one, true, Creator God! His train is HUGE, a picture of His superior royalty and grandeur.

He is worthy. i pray that i would be delighted by Him, that i would open my eyes to see Him. and when i see Him as He truly is...how can i not respond by pursuing Him with everything i have?