The Dark Side of Pleasure

Every life runs on some kind of policy—not written on paper, but formed in our habits, decisions, and values; it’s the set of governing principles behind how we live. In the Epistle of James, James puts a simple question before his readers: is your aim in life to submit to the will of God, or to gratify your own desires with the pleasures of this world? In today’s message, we’ll look at the three voices of pleasure—our flesh that says, “I want it,” the world that says, “Chase it,” and the devil who says, “Take it.” To stay focused on the Lord, Joshua made a policy decision that would govern his life when he declared, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”