於2022-12-05發佈


享受生活!你受造是為享受福樂而生
作者:約翰-E-湯瑪斯 John E. Thomas
原文來源:以利亞名單 https://www.elijahlist.com/words/display_word.html?ID=28459 
日期:2022.12.4
翻譯:Kate
轉載/轉寄 請註明出處:國度禱告網

當上帝創造全地並使其充滿植物和動物時,祂說這是好的。但當祂創造人時,祂用了不同的字,創造突然變得非常好。(請閱讀創世記第1章)。

祂在地上創造的一切都給了人來享受:美麗、美味、樂趣;所有的山,所有的海洋,所有的動物。想像一下,與一隻無欲無求的老虎玩耍--那會有多大的樂趣?或者你會更喜歡和灰熊、無尾熊,或者海裡的一些大魚一起玩?如果你和動物都沒有受傷的可能,你會去做什麼冒險?

你知道人類的舌頭有能力品嘗到10萬種以上的味道嗎?

人的眼睛可以看到大約一百萬種顏色。

或者觸摸的感覺呢?如果沒有什麼可以傷害你,會有多少感官體驗?這還只是肉體上的體驗!你的情感呢?有多少種感覺是可能的?

上帝並不是隨意地創造我們。祂所做的一切都有目的。

在樂園裡

祂創造我們有這麼多的可能性是有原因的--祂希望我們能享受祂給我們的生活。祂把亞當和夏娃放在一個園子裡,有目的地把它叫做伊甸園,意思是"歡樂"或"天堂"。

這就是上帝設計我們生活的地方--一個充滿樂趣的花園。

詩人寫道,喜樂仍然是祂的意圖。

"神啊,你的慈愛何其寶貴!世人投靠在你翅膀的蔭下。他們必因你殿裡的肥甘得以飽足;你也必叫他們喝你樂河的水。"。(詩篇36:7-9)

如果罪沒有進入這個世界,詩篇36:7-9就是我們生活的樣式:追求喜樂,在我們父親給我們的每一個好的禮物中找到享受。這仍然是我們的目標,但現在我們必須分辨哪些是真正的好東西,哪些實際上是有害的,但被假扮成喜樂的。

上帝仍然希望我們享受生活,讓我們活得更充實。耶穌解釋說,盜賊來是為了偷竊、殺害和毀壞,但祂來是為了讓我們擁有"豐富的"生命(約翰福音10:10)。

分辨真喜樂和假喜樂

如果我們是為喜樂而生,為什麼會有那麼多痛苦?

上帝已經揭示了什麼是好的,但世界卻提供假喜樂。認識善惡的樹告訴我們要自己決定:"你可以選擇什麼是好的,什麼是不好的。你不需要別人來告訴你"。

但生命之樹只在上帝的啟示中找到養分。它渴望得到祂的聲音和祂所說的好東西。(你可以在《申命記》8:3和《馬太福音》4:4中讀到更多這方面的內容)。

仇敵想讓我們認為上帝和牠一樣,竊取喜樂,減少我們的樂趣:"上帝的誡命是負擔,是為了從你身上竊取生命。如果你做你想做的事--我說的對你有好處--你會更有成就感。"

歸根結底,一切都歸結於此:我們將相信誰?

罪的虛假、短暫的喜樂實際上扼殺了我們被創造出來的真正的成就和享受(見希伯來書11:25)。

C.S.路易斯在他的《榮耀的重量》一書中是這樣說的:

"看來我們的主發現我們的欲望不是太強,而是太弱。我們是半心半意的受造物,當無限的喜樂提供給我們時,我們卻在酒、性和野心上胡鬧,就像一個無知的孩子,想繼續在貧民窟裡做泥巴餡餅,因為他無法想像在海邊度假的提議意味著什麼。我們太容易滿足了"。

當我們分辨罪所提供的假喜樂與上帝為我們預備的真正美好時,我們會發現我們的生活充滿了喜樂,我們對上帝美好禮物的享受變成了崇拜。我們對抗誘惑的能力增強了。

當我們享受上帝創造的東西時,如一頓豐盛的晚餐、與朋友的歡笑、孩子們的玩耍、完成任務的辛勤工作、色彩斑斕的夕陽、鳥兒的歌聲,我們記得這些東西都是一位好父親所賜,祂希望我們得到滿足,而不是痛苦。感激之情在我們心中升起,我們發現更容易追求公義,因為我們認識到這是通往真正喜樂的道路。

當痛苦和困難進入我們的生活時,我們知道這些事情不是我們父親的最終意圖。這使我們有更大的能力來忍受它們,尋找另一邊的喜樂,就像我們偉大的大祭司耶穌那樣。

"我們既有這許多的見證人,如同雲彩圍著我們,就當放下各樣的重擔,脫去容易纏累我們的罪,存心忍耐,奔那擺在我們前頭的路程,仰望為我們信心創始成終的耶穌(或作:仰望那將真道創始成終的耶穌)。他因那擺在前面的喜樂,就輕看羞辱,忍受了十字架的苦難,便坐在神寶座的右邊。"(希伯來書12:1-2)

苦難和困難會到來,但也會走開。我們可以耐心地忍受,因為我們知道上帝最終會有好的結果。

我為你的喜樂禱告

所以這是我為你的禱告:

願上帝打破所有重視困難多於歡樂、痛苦多於健康、期待懲罰多於祝福的宗教心態。

願你看到現在就有的喜樂,也看到在永恆中等待的終極喜樂;願你的心得到加強,能夠忍耐,能夠抵制誘惑,能夠期待美好。

願你在當下找到喜樂:愛人的微笑,朋友的笑聲,熟練烹調的飯菜,以及大自然的美景。

願每一個喜樂都將你引向天父,一切美好的源頭,願你的生活成為對祂所賜美好禮物的敬拜和感激之情的生活!

 

Enjoying Life! You Were Created for Pleasure"
John E. Thomas, Dallas, TX
Dec 4, 2022

When God created the earth and filled it with plants and animals, He said it was good. But when He created mankind, He used different words. Creation suddenly became very good. (You can read the story in Genesis 1.)

Everything He created on the earth He gave to mankind to enjoy: beauty, flavor, fun; all the mountains, all the oceans, all the animals. Imagine playing around with a tiger that had no desire to be dangerous—how fun would that be? Or would you prefer playing with a grizzly, a koala, or some giant fish deep in the sea? If there was no possibility of you or the animal getting hurt, what adventures would you go on?

Did you know the human tongue has the capacity to taste over 100,000 flavors?

The human eye can see about one million colors.

Or what about the sense of touch? How many sensory experiences would be available if nothing could harm you? And that is just with the physical body! What about your emotions? How many feelings would be possible?

God did not create us randomly. Everything He did has purpose.

In the Garden of Pleasure

He created us with this many possibilities for a reason—He wanted us to enjoy the life He gave us. He put Adam and Eve in a garden and purposefully called it Eden, which means "pleasure" or "paradise."

That is where God designed us to live—in a garden full of pleasure.

The psalmist wrote that pleasure is still His intention:

"How precious is Your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of Your wings. They feast on the abundance of Your house, and You give them drink from the river of Your delights [Eden]. For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light do we see light." (Psalm 36:7-9 ESV, emphasis mine) 

If sin had not entered the world, Psalm 36:7-9 is what our life would be like: pursuing pleasure and finding enjoyment in every good gift our Father gave us. That is still our aim, but now we have to discern between that which is truly good and that which is actually harmful, but dressed up as pleasurable.

God still wants us to enjoy life, to live life to the fullest. Jesus explained that the thief came to steal, kill, and destroy, but He came that we would have life "abundantly" (John 10:10).

Discerning True Pleasure from False Pleasure

If we were made for pleasure, why is there so much pain?

God has revealed what is good, and yet the world offers false pleasures. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil tells us to decide for ourselves: "You can pick what is good and what is not. You don't need anyone else to tell you."

But the tree of life finds sustenance only in the revelation God gives. It longs for His voice and what He says is good. (You can read more about this in Deuteronomy 8:3 and Matthew 4:4.)

The enemy wants us to think God is like him, stealing joy and reducing our pleasure: "God's commandments are burdensome and meant to steal life from you! If you do what you want—what I say is good for you—you will be more fulfilled."

In the end, everything comes down to this: Whom will we trust?

The false, fleeting pleasure of sin actually kills the true fulfillment and enjoyment we were created for (see Hebrews 11:25).

In his book, The Weight of Glory, C. S. Lewis put it this way:

"It would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."

When we separate the false pleasures offered by sin from the genuine good that God intends for us, we find our life filled with joy, and our enjoyment of His good gifts becomes worship. Our ability to fight temptation increases.

As we enjoy the things God created—like a great meal, laughter with friends, our children at play, hard work that completes a task, sunsets exploding with color, the songs of birds—we remember that each of these was given by a good Father who intended us for fulfillment, not pain. Gratitude rises in our hearts, and we find it easier to pursue righteousness, because we recognize it is the path to true joy. 

When pain and difficulty come into our lives, we know these things are not the ultimate intention of our Father. This gives us greater capacity to endure through them, looking for the joy to come on the other side, just like our great High Priest, Jesus, did:

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the Cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God." (Hebrews 12:1-2)

Tribulation and difficulty come, but they also go. We can endure with patience, because we know that God intends good in the end.

My Prayer of Joy for You

So this is my prayer for you:

May God break off every religious mindset that values difficulty more than joy, pain more than health, and expects punishment more than blessings.

May you see the joy that is available now, but also the ultimate joy waiting in eternity; and may your heart be strengthened to endure, to resist temptation, and to expect good.

May you find joy in the moment: the smile of a loved one, the laughter of a friend, a meal cooked skillfully, and nature's beauty.

May every joy point you toward the Father, the Source of all that is good, and may your life be one of worship and gratitude for the good gifts He has given!