There are so many pleasures we experience as we live out our lives in this world. We have the pleasures that come with knowing and being known, the pleasures that come with beholding beauty, the pleasures that come with taste and touch and hearing. This world offers a cornucopia of pleasures to enjoy. And what joy they bring!
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Maybe it’s good to pause for a moment to consider the best day you’ve ever had. Was it a day of triumph and success? The day of your wedding or the day of the birth of your firstborn child? The day of your salvation? Think back to what you saw, what you felt, what you experienced in that moment. And then consider this. You experienced that moment as a sinful being whose heart has been in rebellion against God. You experienced that moment as a person whose mind is clouded by sin and whose spirit is darkened by depravity. You experienced that moment in a sinful world where human beings and angelic creatures constantly make war with God. You experienced that moment on an earth that is groaning under the unbearable burden of sickening transgressions. Even as you enjoyed it, you did so knowing you may never again experience it or anything like it. You eat and you drink and you enjoy the pleasures of this world never knowing if you or the world around you will survive another day or another moment.
You’ve thought about your best day on earth. Now think about your worst day in heaven. (Heresy alert: Bad days in heaven?) Obviously there will be no bad days in heaven, but perhaps some will be more extraordinary than others. So consider an ordinary moment in heaven. You will experience that moment as someone who is fully submitted to God and as someone whose mind and spirit are crystal clear, with no trace of sin. You will experience it in a world in which every person and creature is completely satisfied in God and fully enjoying him in every moment. You will experience it on a perfected and renewed earth and with the assurance that other greater pleasures lie beyond it. You will experience it without doubt or hesitation or fear or uncertainty, knowing that world and everyone in it will endure forever.
The pleasures of this present world are pleasurable indeed. But the greatest of them must pale in comparison to the least pleasures of the world to come.