Our pastor has been doing a Sunday morning teaching series regarding Calvinism (not a bad word, I promise) but more specifically how this viewpoint affects our everyday life. Yesterday he taught about pleasure; how and what we do for refreshment. It never ceases to amaze me how God brings all the different resources in my life to speak to me. I have recently been struggling, well maybe more like wrestling, with the concept of making the Lord's Sabbath a day of rest unto him. I have never been taught or encouraged to make this day separate let alone know how or what it looks like. Just for an example, is it okay to watch NFL football on Sunday?
First, the scripture he took us to was Ecclesiastes 2. Solomon realized that all things "done under the sun" were all vanity. So, first, if we do things without a Higher purpose in life it's all vanity. The advantage Solomon had was he could do all the things that brought him pleasure in about a year (he was very wealthy) where it would take the majority of us our whole life to realize all we did "under the sun" was vanity. Sadly enough, many people do come to the end of their life with many regrets.
Here are three principles we can gage the way we enjoy pleasure...
1. Pleasure can be anything that refreshes that doesn't diminish or distort our final goal in life (which would preclude we know our ultimate goal...)
2. Any pleasure, however good, if not kept in balance will distort reality or destroy your appetite (MODERATION!)
3. If refreshment adversely affects the next days duties, it's not pleasure but excessive feasting (Revelry)
These were extremely helpful on my continued journey to godliness as I work to make Sunday a Sabbath, a day of rest.
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