Romans 8:28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Ecclesiastes 2:1  “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.”

There it is PVP, Purpose vs Pleasure. Titles don’t always tell everything. Neither do acronyms or words without context.

Will we serve purpose or pleasure? Both demand answers to fill in context.

What is purpose?

What is pleasure?

Both need to be explained in context. One individual’s purpose may not be the same as another’s. What pleases one person may not please another.

Purpose is driven by ideology while the other is driven by selfishness.

Ideology can take on many forms, both good and bad. Selfishness has only one focus.

Ecclesiastes 1:9 What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.

What I am writing is nothing new. It has been explored many times, in context and without.

Simple things have simple answers.

What has both purpose and pleasure? The simple answer is sexuality.

The purpose of sex is both procreation and pleasure. Both have consequences.

Procreation creates dependency, pleasure demands repetition. Creation of life is meant to create a sense of responsibility while pleasure cares only about the moment. One is lasting, the other is fleeting.

Nothing is being said here that has not been said before.

What dominates your life?

That is not for me to answer for anyone but myself. Is it purpose or pleasure?

1 Samuel 30:6 And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.

1 Samuel 22:3 And David went from there to Mizpeh of Moab. And he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and my mother stay with you, till I know what God will do for me.”

Psalm 118:8 It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man.

There is a great deal of mistrust being sown these days. 

It appears that we have three different scriptures here that deal differently with individual trust issues.

First it would appear that King David had lost the trust of his people.

Secondly, David put a measure of trust in a foreign king to protect his mother and father.

Thirdly, protections are granted by God, not man.

The larger issue of trust is left to each individual to determine who earns our trust.

The people trusted those who had the same fears and anxieties they had, common ground.

Parental trust disappears when we fear for their safety. We fear they will make bad choices.

Better choices are made from a standpoint of personal history.

What has God done for you personally? What He has done for others is irrelevant. We cannot trust that God will respond to us based on others. What God has done to intercede on our behalf in the past is a better indicator of why we should trust God for our future.

Psalm 118:6 The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?

1 Kings 5:4 But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side. There is neither adversary nor misfortune.

What gives us rest and confidence is in those things we see that God has done for us and through us.

Psalm 40:5 You have multiplied, O Lord my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you! I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told.

Isaiah 35:4 Say to those who have an anxious heart, “Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.”

Isaiah 41:10 fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Proverbs 4:4 Let your heart hold fast my words;