Screwtape twists the gift of pleasure
Never forget that when we are dealing with any pleasure in its healthy and normal and satisfying form, we are, in a sense, on the Enemy’s ground. I know we have won many a soul through pleasure. All the same, it is His invention, not ours. He made the pleasures: all our research so far has not enabled us to produce one. All we can do is to encourage the humans to take the pleasures which our Enemy has produced, at times, or in ways, or in degrees, which He has forbidden.
Hence we always try to work away from the natural condition of any pleasure to that in which it is least natural, least redolent of its Maker, and least pleasurable. An ever increasing craving for an ever diminishing pleasure is the formula. It is more certain; and it’s better style. To get the man’s soul and give him nothing in return—that is what really gladdens Our Father’s heart. And the troughs are the time for beginning the process.
The disciple Paul urges “all things in moderation”. This is the bulwark against our God-created pleasures becoming defiled by misuse, abuse or weakness. It is God’s good pleasure that we enjoy all the gifts of life and use them to our best good.
When we; through temptation, self-centeredness or pride, despoil God’s gifts, we then suffer the consequences. This most often occurs when we are down, insecure or otherwise troubled, burdened or “in the trough” of despair or hurt. This is when we must be most careful to take God’s pleasures as intended; according to the creator’s instructions.
The good news is, those pleasures, properly taken, are God’s antidote to our worldly challenges and our own weaknesses. So, drink deeply of all God’s pleasures, but be sure to do so according to God’s will. Then, Screwtape will have no success with us.
Seeking moderation,
Z gardener
Note: The current sources for these devotionals are the writings of C.S. Lewis. For those unfamiliar with Lewis, Screwtape is a character in one of his books, The Screwtape Letters. Screwtape is one of Satan’s minions whose job is to educate lesser demons in the dark arts of tempting mankind into sin so Satan can claim their souls.
Z
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