In the beginning when God created the world, sparkling with divine energy, bursting with unlimited expansion, He was pleased. On the seventh day, He stopped and looked around at all He had done, and said, “It is good.” And we see that God takes pleasure in His creation, including us: “The Lord is pleased only with those who worship him and trust his love” (Psalm 147:11).
We exist for His glory, purpose, and delight (Acts 17:28; Proverbs 8:30). Bringing enjoyment to God, living for his pleasure, is what we were created for. Eric Liddell, Christian missionary and Olympic athlete said: “I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run, I feel His pleasure.”
Standing in opposition to God’s pleasure are the world's pleasures. But they only last for a moment, and leave us with an emptiness the just makes us want more (Hebrews 11:25). Why are we so easily enticed by such empty pleasures? The simple answer is this: God wants us to find our pleasure in Him, but if we do not, we will look elsewhere. So our pleasure-seeking is really an inherent hunger for God. Living a life that is pleasing to God has its own great reward, not only in time, but for eternity. “In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever” (Psalm 16:11). So let us, like Paul, make it our ambition to discern what is pleasing to the Lord (2 Cor. 5:9; Eph. 5:10) and do it!
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