"God designed us to enjoy life; he created us for pleasure. God created us so he could enjoy us and we could enjoy him and we could enjoy life. God created us in the perfect environment for pleasure, enjoyment, and desire. This is the story of creation. This is our beginning. God created the world for our enjoyment. We took the fun out of it.

In the beginning, God's idea was to put us in a beautiful place filled with delicious fruit and gorgeous surroundings - not to mention that Adam and Eve were naked. For most of us this is a terrifying though, but factor in it was before cellulite went out of control. When we begin to enjoy life, we actually return to God's original intent. God never intended for us to live a life defined by pain, sorrow, loneliness, and disappointment. God created a very different world from the one we're running now. The garden of Eden was beautiful. You could see the sunset, and you couldn't see the atmosphere. There were no zone diets and no holes in the ozone. The world was designed to inspire the human spirit. We would wake up and want to shout at the top of our lungs how good life is. It really was a pleasure to be here.

Imagine waking up to a world like this. While paradise is gone, we can still wake up to a world we enjoy."

Erwin McManus

I like that. I want to live like that. The thing is that as North Americans, we're not very good at doing that in healthy ways. We over indulge which, I might add, begs the question of whether it's really taking pleasure in the good things in life or drowning our sorrows, or, taken to the other extreme, we avoid anything that might bring pleasure, assuming that the only way to success and fulfillment is to live an austere, driven life. Neither extreme brings the joy or rest that we long for.

Religions, Christianity included, have made pleasure something negative, earthly, unholy. To throw off the desires of this world, we decided, is to find enlightenment and freedom. But what if the truth of it is that in pursuing pleasure in healthy, wholesome, godly ways, we are actually closer to enlightenment or freedom or godliness. When, I ask, do you feel most free? When you are denying all things that might bring joy or when you are savoring a breathtaking moment? Engulfed in the pages of good book? Drowning in the sweet sounds of a beautiful piece of music? Savoring the flavors of rich, dark chocolate? Enraptured by a sunset or comforted by the presence of a loved one?

I say this tentatively. I'm not suggesting we throw out hard work for the pursuit of pleasure. Quite conversely, I believe that it's hard work that allows us to take pure joy in the pleasures of life. I daresay that, in the right balance, even our work can be a joy. I write this as one who is searching out a better balance, as one who leans towards the side of too much work and not enough play. And so, as I ponder the truths of Scripture reflected in McManus' writing, I find myself as one who is searching to be a part of seeing God's Kingdom come here on earth, to see Creation restored to it's original intent, to glimpse a bit of paradise here on earth. I want to wake up and find enjoyment in the things that God takes joy in, the things He gave us to take joy in. I want to work hard and play hard but most of all, I want to live well.