This past Sunday, I made a point in the sermon of Jesus' comments in John 6:26-7 (ESV), "Truly, truly I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you." I pointed out that the spirit of our world and of the devil wants us to labor for things that perish and to find our pleasure in those things, rather than in Christ which alone endures to eternal life. (If you would like to listen to the sermon, click here http://firstpresbyteriangulfport.mypodcast.com/).
Well, in reading C.S. Lewis' Screwtape Letters, I came across a great quote related to this that I wanted to share with you. What follows is Screwtape (a senior devil) speaking to Wormwood (a junior devil and Screwtape's nephew):
"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 [i.e., God'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 [i.e., to get us to labor after what perishes!]. 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 [i.e., Satan's] heart."
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