A good friend sent me this quote a few days ago. She said it reminded her of me, bless her heart. On my best days this is the kind of mindset I strive for. From my alltime favorite, C.S. Lewis…
“If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics and is not part of the Christian faith.
Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak.
We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”
- C. S. Lewis in “The Weight of Glory”
Is the writer saying that we are not trying hard enough to earn the rewards mentioned in the gospels? Also, what is the solution to this problem of being too easily pleased?
Hi Jedidiah,
“Is the writer saying that we are not trying hard enough to earn the rewards mentioned in the gospels?”
Not at all. He’s saying we as human beings tend to set our sights too low, that God has far more good in store for us than we imagine. And he’s saying that the things people typically strive for in the world — money, sex, power, success, etc — are worthless trinkets in God’s eyes, that God’s blessings are far deeper and greater.
Also, what is the solution to this problem of being too easily pleased?
Good question. I think Lewis offers a few answers. (1) Don’t be taken in by the arguments of stoics and other philosophers who teach that wishing for and/or praying for good things for ourselves is a bad thing. God wants to bless us, and wants to hear our requests. (2) Pay attention to God’s will for His people as expressed in Scripture, and believe in the greatness of it. (3) Keep on remembering that God’s good will for us is “beyond anything we could ask or imagine”… and don’t settle for anything less than God’s best.
Peg,
Your explanation is right on. God has so much more for us than we have experienced. We are too easily satisfied by a mear taste of the glories on which He would have us feast. Temporal and fleating pleasures cannot compare to the overwhelming joy of His presence and His blessings.
Thanks Dan and amen!