. In your presence there is fullness of joy; in your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death
James 1:15
You show me the path of life Psalm 16:11
Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Psalm 37:4
Gregory of Nyssa (335-394 AD) along with his friend Basil, and Basil’s brother, Gregory of Naziansen, was extremely influential in nailing down orthodox Christian faith, especially in regard to the full divinity of Jesus. So it seems very dangerous to disagree with him in anything; but I do.
Gregory says that pleasure draws us away from God and since pleasure comes through the senses, we should carefully avoid anything of a sensate nature. I don’t believe that is correct. Surely it is true that, as the text above reminds us, when we allow our desires to rule us, we cannot participate in the kingdom of God. But to experience pleasure is not the same thing as being ruled by desire. It is possible to enjoy food without becoming a glutton, ruled by the desire for food. Similarly, it is possible to enjoy nature without becoming a nature-worshipper.
Is it easier to avoid the trap of desire if one avoids all pleasurable sensations? Perhaps. But is that what God wants for us? I don’t think so. Clearly, he created sensuous pleasure for us to enjoy. So to try to get rid of it is not in his plan. What does he want for us? He wants us to be God-seekers (not pleasure-seekers) who enjoy the ever-growing pleasure of knowing him more deeply. Knowing him in that way, we will have power in the Holy Spirit to bring our desires into submission to our sanctified spirits. They will not rule us, but we will rule them. In that condition, we can enjoy all the pleasures of this good creation with an overwhelming spirit of gratitude.
It is surely misguided to think that the God who inspired the writing of The Song of Solomon wants us to forego all pleasure
Called To Be Transformed 