TEXT: “Thou wilt show me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of joy and at Thy right hand are pleasures for evermore” – Psalm 16:11.
There is this inherent desire in man to seek a pleasurable life. No one willingly wants to suffer. We were all created to enjoy life after God’s nature and image. Yes, God enjoys His life – Heaven is a place where the streets are paved of gold, it’s a place of unimaginable euphoria of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost, a place filled with the sweetest aroma of music. Pleasures were not wrong in themselves from the beginning.
That was why God created the pleasures of Eden for man. Ever stopped to think of it? Even sexual pleasure was God’s own idea for man. It was God who said “It is not good for man to be alone” and he brought Adam a wife – a man with a womb and newer features that complimented Adam for sexual intimacy and otherwise! (Homosexuality was never God’s idea). God’s original intention was righteous pleasures all-round for man. But we lost it to the devil’s lies. Thank Jesus, He obtained it back for us!
So, where did man get his sick ideology of pleasure come from? It came from the devil! The day man rebelled against God thinking the devil had better pleasure to offer was the day man lost the fruitful and pleasurable life He had always known from birth. The devil twisted the definition of pleasure to include sin and sold us a lie that God never wants us living good! And till date many people believe this satanic lie. We’ve given God a bad press!
Our memory verse says:
“Thou wilt show me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of joy and at Thy right hand are pleasures for evermore” – Psalm 16:11.
All God wants to take away from us is sin and nothing more, because sin is a deadly poison that kills. Every enjoyment besides sin is ours to have. He said in 2Peter 1:3 “For he has given us ALL that pertains to life (health, spirituality, money, marriage, peace…) and Godliness (to share in His royal kingship, rightness and purity)”, He has given us life in abundance (John 10:10), HE has raised us up together and made us sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:6).
But many of us still ignorantly seek life’s pleasures our own way. And guess what? You can’t miss sin that way. You’d think you need to be corrupt to have material wealth, you’d think the only way you can enjoy life is to get yourself overrun by your selfish desires, drinking, sexual perversions and immorality etc. I bring you good news, all genuine pleasure can be satisfied in God and In fact can ONLY be satisfied in God! For at His right hand are pleasures (true pleasures) for evermore. Scriptures cannot be broken no matter how hard you try.
What’s the way to go then? Stop seeking pleasures, pleasures are not yours to seek. They are the automatic rewards that accrue those who seek after and find the real deal. Man was not made to seek pleasure. It’s a God-given birthright to us. What Adam lost in Eden was the Presence! That took all else away. And I bet you King David the Psalmist was quick to recognize this. He wrote lovely Psalms describing his panting, his hunger, his longing for the nest, the brooks, the cleft of God’s awesome presence. Little wonder God described him as the man after his heart. Till date the start in the flag of God’s choicest nation, Israel is referred to as the “Star of David“. God’s presence set him apart till date as the greatest king Israel ever had. The king who never lost a battle ever in his life! Wow! You can never lose any of life’s battle living in this presence. His presence creates Eden out of anybody’s life. God wants us back into His presence.
In His presence is fullness of joy, why? For therein He leads us beside still waters, He leads us to never want, He leads in paths of righteousness, He leads us unto restoration and refreshing of our souls. Oh what heartache that comes with staying out late drinking all night only to wake up with a hang over? The frustration of sleeping out late with multiple partners? It’s all punishment to the soul. True pleasure restores our souls. Hallelujah! Therein is the path of life.
There are many paths and ways in life – career path, marriage path, visions and dreams, and lots of causes that men live and die for. But I bet you, all is vanity asides One Path – THE PATH OF LIFE! “For Thou wilt show me the path of life…” Christ said, “I AM THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE” The paths we choose to walk in life matter so much. For every man is the outcome of his overall choices in life. We can’t afford to miss our path, because as Robert Frost pointed out in his popular poem, “The Road not Taken”, Most paths in life cannot be reversed.
So, what’s the way to go?
Here is the solution! Stop dying to make ends meet. Stop killing yourself to succeed in life. Stop trying to seek out your path yourself. There is the path with less stress and less burden. “For my yoke is easy”, He says, “and my burden is light”. God has sought it out for you. He designed the roads and He remains the best guide ever! My dear reader, dare to trust God today! Stop! Stop trying to figure out life all by yourself. Stop thinking God is too stingy to wanna let you live in abundance. Stop cutting corners to help yourself out. You just search out God’s promises for your life, it’s all there in His Word – they are wide. Subscribe to His presence and His leading, and watch yourself manifest gloriously on earth. For with Him lies the path of life.
Then you’d find fullness of joy, a new found sense of fulfillment and ease in your life’s pursuit, a sense of leading, always knowing what next to do, never stranded nor discouraged in life. He’ll lead you, He’ll provide, you won’t be in want, regardless the economic situation out there. You’d live on heaven’s economy. You’d realize that in genuine pursuit of His presence, you’d find pleasures at His right hand, cos He leads to where the grass is green.
Go for the presence and sell it not, His overwhelming counsel shall guide thee and all that men out there are dying for shall automatically be added unto you! That’s the pattern, the path of life! Hallelujah!