food for thought: purity as a mastery over inferior appetites

August 25, 2012

By purity, I understand a due abstractedness from the body, and mastery over the inferior appetites... (Pg. 9)
In the next place, for purifying our souls, and disentangling our affections from the pleasures and enjoyments of this lower life, let us frequently ponder the excellency and dignity of our nature, and what a shameful and unworthy thing it is for so noble and divine a creature as the soul of man, to be sunk and immersed in brutish and sensual lusts, or amused with airy and fantastical delights, and so to lose the relish of solid and spiritual pleasures; that the best should be fed and pampered, and the man and the Christian be starved in us. Did we but mind who we are, and for what we were made, this would teach us, in a right sense, to reverence and stand in awe of ourselves; it would beget a modesty and shamefacedness, and make us very shy and reserved in the use of the most innocent and allowable pleasures. (Pg. 40)
--The Life of God in the Soul of Man, Henry Scougal

I love this idea of purity - the mastery over inferior appetites, over disgusting lusts, meaningless yet fantastical delights. Are there not so many of these in our world that compete and vie for our attention? And yet, only One is worthy of our love, our appetite, our desire, our time, our very heart &soul - Him who died to set us free and who has been raised to life that those of us who have died with Him are now also to live with Him (Rom 6). 

I've heard arguments that say "but these things that we enjoy we can enjoy in God because God gives them to us." To an extent, this is true of certain things - enjoying the family God has given you, enjoying the schooling God has led you to, enjoying the fellowship of the brothers & sisters, etc. But let us not confuse the gifts with the Giver for they are not the same. The gifts are to lead us to Him; the gifts were never intended to satisfy us, for our hearts & soul cannot be fully satisfied outside of God. And the leisure activities that God has given us the ability to enjoy, I would argue, are intended that one day, through maturing in Christ and in love for Him, would demonstrate to us the utter meaningless and lack of satisfaction any 'fun' activity this world has to offer to us and how they ultimately lead us to strive after the only One who satisfies.  

So then, let us strive in purity, setting our hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Setting our minds on things above and not earthly things. (Colossians 3:1-2) Not allowing any of these inferior appetites to dull our desire and enjoyment of God. May we, in Christ, become so pure in our hearts that everything - activity, object, person, or idea - pales in comparison to the thought of spending a few precious moments in the presence of our Lord and Savior. For the pure in heart will see God. (Matt. 5:8)