Psalm 16:11, “Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in Thy presence is fulness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.” 

Words like pride, pleasure, and passion are often viewed with suspicion by those of us who follow Jesus. The problem with that suspicion when it is unthoughtfully applied is that we end up believing that God is pleased with prideless, pleasureless, passionless Christians. Thankfully, nothing could be further from the truth. He created these instincts for us to take an appropriate sense of pride in Him rather than ourselves (Jeremiah 9:23–24; Philippians 3:1–11). To find our pleasure in all that He has given us and in our fellowship with Him. And to be passionate about His kingdom and the advance of His cause (Luke 12:22–34). Because these instincts are divinely implanted, there is a danger in trying to stifle them. If we are not careful, we will end up taking pleasure in our pleasurelessness, feeling proud of our humility, and secretly succumbing to the seductive passions of our world. We must resist fostering an attitude that inflicts unwarranted guilt when we feel too exuberant and repent of having sanctified, stoical sobriety, doormat humility, and placid emotions. TV’s Saturday Night Live didn’t miss the opportunity to mock Christians who sanctify a sour brand of stoicism when they created “church woman.” If we are not careful, we will be like the sad-faced man on a bus. After several days of watching this somber chap board the bus, a curious fellow rider asked him, “Excuse me, but are you a minister?” As someone well said, “If you have joy in your heart, please telephone your face!” C. S. Lewis told about a schoolboy who was asked what he thought God was like. The lad replied that as far as he could make out, God was “the sort of person who is always snooping ’round to see if anyone is enjoying himself and then trying to stop it.” It is not the eradication, suppression, or flogging of these inner energies that is required. Rather, what is needed is their redirection from serving self to using them to fully experience all that’s good in life and all of God in fresh ways. They will either compete with or become our allies to aid and empower the glory and gain of Christ through us. What is the focus of your pleasure, pride, and passion? 

Today’s devotion is adapted from Strength for the Journey: Day By Day With Jesus written by Joseph M. Stowell and published by Moody Publishers.