After a gospel meeting in Orlando, we took a day to go to Disney World. Taking time off for fun is always accompanied by a tinge of guilt for me—there’s always so much that needs attention. So some written reflections from a day in the Magic Kingdom helps purge my conscience and hopefully find some profit in the excursion for someone other than the theme park executives.

Pleasure promises. My wife Jennifer said that you can tell when you’re on a plane to Orlando. The exasperated mother who is at wit’s end appeasing her travel weary child finally says, “You wanna see Mickey, don’t you? Then sit still!” It worked. The promise of speedy gratification acts as a sedative. Pleasure says, “You wanna feel good, don’t you? Then take this!” Or, “You wanna get ‘em back, do you? Then say this!” Or, “Don’t you want her to like you? Then do this!” The wise man warned, “Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant” (). You want to see the Lord, don’t you? Then wait on Him, wait on His way, and wait for His instructions. Real rewards are better than the rapid ones.

Pleasure rules. Pleasure is a god that dresses like a servant. He makes you feel like you’re in charge. He is here to serve you, to make you feel important. After all, you deserve a break today. You work hard. And you’ve been really busy. Sit back and rest for awhile. You’re worth it. Such is pleasure’s ploy. It works. Pleasure makes man feel like a king, and man pays him richly for his services with the best of his time, the best of his attention, the first fruits of his wealth, the best of his affection. Pleasure rules a magic kingdom where the servants look like masters and the masters look like servants who live to satisfy man’s every whim. Only in the judgment day will pleasure’s hidden palace be exposed and the invisible shackles around man’s ankles be seen. “You cannot serve God and Mammon” (). The Lord will not tolerate a divided heart—Mammon will. He’s an easy god. Or, so he seems.

Pleasure distracts. On a Monday evening, fireworks dancing overhead, I looked at a sea of people having not only the means to spend the theme park ticket price but, for many, the willingness to spend the Lord’s Day traveling to get there. The price for them to play cost more than just the ticket price. All eyes were looking up, feasting on the night sky spectacle. It occurred to me that while men were looking up, the Lord must be looking down. What madness this must all be to Him. Men looking up, but not looking at Him. God looking down, and men not seeing Him there. Pleasure does that. It blinds men to what is really important. It distracts them from what has real value. The fireworks gone, the people dispersed. Back home. Back down to earth. Actually, that’s the problem. They never left. Pleasure seeking makes you near-sighted, self-centered, earthbound. It distracts. It pulls you away from seeking first the kingdom, to seeking it tomorrow, then next week, then someday…then, oh, why bother?

Never have so many pleasures been accessible to so many people as in our day. Christians beware of this pleasure driven world. It is a small world after all. A small world impressed with its own greatness, getting smaller all the time but greater in its own eyes. Too small for us to get comfortable here. Too small for me to be away from work for very long. I need something and someone bigger than myself and this dizzying world with all its rides and fun to occupy my energy and focus. I don’t care what Pleasure says. It’s all lies.