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Is God Anti-Fun?
There are many who perceive the kind of life God desires people to live as a dull and boring one that misses out on all the fun and enjoyable things about this life. This, in fact, is a major reason many do not choose to follow Jesus Christ. Yet, as we will see, it is a major misconception that Christians cannot and should not have fun in their lives. While God does have rules to follow, following these rules does not eliminate the ability to have fun.
1) God created us with the ability to enjoy things about this life. Genesis 1 and 2 demonstrates that God made man and woman and even planted a special garden that was full of beauty for them to enjoy (even though He gave them a rule to follow, Genesis 2:16-17). So, it is God who has created people with the ability to experience pleasures in this life and to have various emotions. If God did not want anyone to have any fun, then, He could have created people without the ability to experience it!
2) God gives us every good thing we enjoy. God is the giver of every good and perfect gift (James 1:17). Although God does not just give us the various good things about life for us to enjoy in selfish ways, He does give us things that result in people having fun. In fact, as you think about the things that bring you enjoyment, consider how many of them would exist without God! While people often take credit for the things that bring them enjoyment, you must realize that it is God who richly provides us with all things to enjoy (1 Timothy 6:17).
3) God wants us to enjoy the blessings of life – within limits. The Scriptures demonstrate that God sees having fun as being appropriate in life. For example, there is a time to laugh and a time to dance (Ecclesiastes 3:4). However, it is not always a time to laugh and dance, as there is also a time to weep and mourn! So, while it is perfectly acceptable to have fun at times, we must not treat life as some kind of big, never-ending party.
Perhaps there is no book of the Bible that better demonstrates this than the book of Ecclesiastes. For, the author (King Solomon) demonstrates both the place of enjoying the things in life and the balance that we must keep. On one hand, the author teaches the value of enjoying the fruit of one’s labor and even considered such to be a gift of God (Ecclesiastes 5:18-20; Ecclesiastes 9:7-10). But, Solomon also discovered that making physical pleasures the focus of his life was not fulfilling at all (Ecclesiastes 2:1-11, 18-26). Therefore, while it is appropriate to enjoy the blessings God provides, you must never lose sight of the fact that your true purpose in life is to fear God and keep His commands (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14)!
4) God is anti-sin. God is not okay with people having fun in just any way. Since He has created us for glorifying Him rather than for the purpose of us having fun, we must recognize that God expects us to seek Him above those things that give us pleasure. For, God teaches us that there is more to our earthly lives than our own pleasures – and warns that if we put our focus on the things of the flesh, we will experience eternal destruction in Hell rather than eternal life in Heaven (Matthew 6:19-21; Luke 12:16-21; Galatians 6:7-8). Therefore, while there are many pleasures involved in sinful things, God wants us to realize that those things are just fleeting (passing/temporary, Hebrews 11:24-26). Due to this, God wants us to deny our own earthly desires anytime they go against living for Him (1 Corinthians 9:27; Luke 9:23)! For, the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23) and will result in eternal punishment in the fires of Hell (Revelation 21:8). Because God is a holy God who is separate from everything that is evil (1 John 1:5), He desires you to be holy in everything (1 Peter 1:13-16).
God is not anti-fun. In fact, God created you with the ability to have fun and has given you any good thing that may bring you fun. However, while it is appropriate to have fun, you must not think this is the main objective of your life. Instead, your earthly life is just temporary and you should be focused on living to please God so Heaven can be your eternal home. In this, you should refuse to engage in anything you might consider “fun” that goes against how God wants you to live.