Living For Pleasure

1 Timothy 5:5=6

Now a true widow, a woman who is truly alone in this world, has placed her hope in God. She prays night and day, asking God for his help. But the widow who lives for pleasure is dead even while she lives.

We share with animals certain instincts and drives that present themselves as real and tangible needs. It is only when we properly attend to these needs that we are free to live in a civilized way. Someone who has gone without water for three days and has no prospect of a drink in the future is not concerned with decorum and moral restraint… Their thirst takes over their mind, driving them by the singular focus of self-preservation. Yet, no matter how real these needs may be, if left unregulated, they threaten to control our lives. 

That thing which separates us from the animals is the faculty of principle. 

Principle is what allows a man, by deliberate choice, to forsake even his own life in the pursuit of a purpose outside of himself. We have heard stories of men who possessed principle. Their lives, measured not by the circumstances they faced but rather by their ability to act despite circumstances, thus rising above their condition and obtaining a good report.

In 1 Timothy, we are presented with two ways of living: That of dependency on God alone and that of slavery to our own desires, which leads to death.

If we are to walk in the manner that is pleasing to God, we must exercise the faculty of principle.

THE PATHWAY TO PRINCIPLE:

All roads begin somewhere, and, being that principle is a determination of the will, the road begins with wisdom. Wisdom is the ability to judge and determine the options laid before us. Wisdom looks down from 30,000 ft. and takes a holistic account of the entire situation, rather than seeing from a myopic point of view.

The Bible tells us that wisdom is something that is possessed by God alone. We are told that, before the need for correct decision-making had even presented itself, God accounted for wisdom; He looked at and appraised it. He, having created every path, those which lead to life and those which lead to death, created a roadmap. 

This roadmap is the most valuable item a human could ever obtain. More valuable than gold, silver, or fine jewels. It allows a man to overcome the circumstances of life, navigating every fiery trial so that he always finds his footing on solid ground. Far beyond financial stability is the stability of the mind, which can not be caught off guard or deceived by paths that appear lustrous but actually lead to death.

If we are to obtain wisdom and thus begin walking down the pathway of principle, we must go to the One who appraised it. He assures us that if we desire wisdom, He will give it to us freely, meaning He will give us as much as we can carry, and He further assures us that He will give it without reproach, never looking down on us in a demeaning way, never saying “how do you not already have it?”

In broad terms, He has already revealed it to us when He said, “Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.” Being that wisdom is the roadmap which allows us to navigate life without falling into those pits which surround us, one who turns away from evil, avoiding those pits altogether, shows himself to have obtained it. Such a man is like the one that Jesus described as “building his house on a solid rock foundation” rather than one who “builds on shifting sand.”

If, by the grace of God, He has enabled you to recognize the fact that you lack wisdom, delivering you from the Dunning–Kruger effect, in which people with low competence lack the insight to recognize their incompetence and therefore do not seek correction, you have already overcome the greatest obstacle that stands in the way of a life lived rightly. God has placed you in the most advantageous position, setting you firmly at the foot of the path that leads to life. All that remains is to walk, without turning to the left or the right, toward the destination that you have already been oriented toward.

WALKING THE PATH

If you are to be dependent on God in every circumstance, rather than being pulled off course by the desires of your physical body, you must decide, at the very get-go, which direction you will walk. 

Jesus warned us to “count the cost”, explaining that no one starts the construction of a building without a plan… Such a person, though good-intentioned, fails due to lack of foresight and must abandon the project altogether, leaving behind a half-built structure which brings them more shame than if they had not endeavored to build it in the first place…

Contrary to the altar call of today, which says to us, “Determine to follow Jesus first, deal with the specifics later.” I say to you, examine the path earnestly. Ask yourself, “Am I willing to do what it takes, am I willing to forgo that which I must forgo, in order to obtain what lies at the end of this road?” Like Elijah, on Mount Carmel, I say to you, “Determine for yourself! If the Lord is God, follow Him; if Baal, and everything he offers, which is the wealth of this world and the lust of the eyes, is God, follow him!” For those who, by persistence in doing good, seek glory, honor, and immortality, God will give eternal life, but for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.

You must choose, before you can start down either of these paths, which one you will take, for the most miserable man on earth is that man who has his foot in two camps. Such a man puts himself in a position where he can enjoy neither the things of God nor the things of this world. This man is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind, and should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty, being divided between God and the world, makes them unstable in everything they do. This person goes ‘round and ‘round in life, from woe to woe, accomplishing nothing and in the end, becomes like that wicked servant who, paralyzed by fear and indecision decided to hide the talant given to him by his master, choosing vacillation as his action and receiving as recompense the wrath of his master when he is bound, hand and foot, and thrown into the darkness, being found unfit to serve in the household any longer.

It would have been better for this man, having examined the obligations required of him and coming to the conclusion that he was not willing to fulfill them, to have entered that outer darkness on his own volition, where at least he would be unbound to enjoy, for a short time, what the darkness had to offer, rather than being thrown into it, bound, unable to experience the joys of the masters household OR the offerings of the world outside it.

It is not enough, when standing at the beginning of the path, to simply reason in your mind which direction you will take. Your decision must be one of conviction. Like Alexander, you must burn the ships behind you as a prerequisite to obtaining victory. Jesus describes the drastic act of determination required when He says, “If your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. if your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away.” 

You must, like Job, “make a covenant with your eyes.” You must make it before you start! “For the world offers a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions.” 

Only by receiving, by the grace of God, the gift of wisdom, can we even see that an alternative path even exists, and only by the provision of God, and the supernatural strength He provides through His Spirit, which is the same Spirit that raised Jesus from death to life, can we walk that path. On our own strength, we will be pulled incessantly, and we will fall for “though the spirit is willing, the flesh is weak,” and we know “that nothing good dwells in us, that is, in our flesh. For we have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.”

Just as it was Jesus who provided the provision required to feed the multitude, it is God alone who gives us the will and the ability to do what pleases Him. Just as it was the disciples who were charged with taking the provision, piece by piece, and distributing it amongst the crowd, it is charged to us to exhibit faith in the determination of principle that we walk, step by step, along the path laid out for us.

We know this world is passing away, along with everything that people crave. All of our possessions and achievements will be burned by the fire of the coming age, and it is no fool who forsakes these things, seeking rather those things which please God, and by obtaining a good report, through faith, receive eternal life.