Sweeter Than All Pleasure

Sweeter than all Pleasure

11 You will show me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Augustine spent the early years of his life pursuing earthly pleasures. He was bound by philosophical pride and bound by his lustful attachment to his mistress. He had an unusual encounter with the Lord in a garden one day and found freedom and joy in his salvation. His words describing his liberation are classic.
“How sweet all at once it was for me to be rid of those fruitless joys which I had once feared to lose and was now glad to reject! You drove them from me, you who are the true, the sovereign joy. You drove them from me and took their place, you who are sweeter than all pleasure, though not to flesh and blood, you who outshine all light yet are hidden deeper than any secrets in our hearts, you who surpass all honor though not in the eyes of men who see all honor in themselves. At last my mind was free from the gnawing anxieties of ambition and gain, from wallowing in filth and scratching the itching sore of lust. I began to talk to you freely Oh Lord my God, my Light, my Wealth and my Salvation.”
Today, you can experience freedom from slavery that comes from the pursuit of the carnal pleasures of this world. Where does this freedom begin? It begins in the presence of the Lord. He is this Sovereign Joy Augustine spoke of. Only the higher joy found in Christ can satisfy our hungry hearts, this satisfaction is a deep rooted joy free from all of the lusts of this world. Drink deeply of His love. Drink him in as you read His Word and as you worship Him. Like Augustine, the joy found in Christ, will drive the desire for the foolish pleasures of this life far from you.