Vanity

This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. – Ephesians 4.17-19

Don’t walk, Paul writes, like the rest of the world walks. Don’t be caught up in the vanity and futility of your minds. Stop chasing after the vain and empty the things the world goes after. They aren’t going to do you any good.

Solomon learned that lesson a long, long time ago. We tried to find the meaning of life and find satisfaction is money and possessions and power and popularity and anything else you can imagine, but at the end of the day all he found was more emptiness. We finally said ‘fear God and keep His commandment’ was the only way to find meaning.

The world can’t help but live in the vanity of their minds, they don’t know that the peace they seek comes only from fearing God and keeping His commandments.

But we should know how vain and futile it is to live that way. We should know what a waste it is. We really should know better.

And yet we still can let vain and futile thoughts control us. For some reason we keep thinking we are going to find satisfaction there.

Its not going to happen. There is no hope there. Emptiness is only going to bring emptiness.

Let us stop going after all those worthless things. We have more important things things to do. We have a heavenly and eternal purpose to achieve. There is no need for us to act like the world.