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True Antidote for Vanity

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I want to spend a few moments going over three separate portions of Scripture briefly. They tie together nicely because all of God’s Word is God’s Word. Even though He used some forty or so human authors, the flow and consistency of the Bible is remarkable. No other religion can make that claim at all.

Let’s start with Ecclesiastes 12. Readers will recall that King Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived – according to and aside from Jesus – pointed out flaws in human thinking and the way people pursue things. I will admit that originally, I tended to look at Ecclesiastes as being “off.” In other words, here was the wisest man who ever lived, who had everything a person could possibly want and yet, he saw all human endeavors as vanity. In other words, he was saying that all the things people try to accomplish are borne in the vain imaginations from within our selfish natures.

In one sense, reading through Ecclesiastes is a bit of a downer because no matter what Solomon did or tried, he always came back to the same conclusion: most or even all of human effort stems from our own innate tendencies to serve self. This is what constitutes our tremendously vain outlook in life.

As I think back over my life, I can clearly see that many of the things I attempted to accomplish were all borne of ego, a desire to satisfy self. This even applies to areas of ministry I pursued and I say this to my chagrin.

I believe this is why in the last chapter of Ecclesiastes, Solomon arrives at the point of understanding that man has a duty. That duty falls into one category.

13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:
Fear God and keep His commandments,
For this is man’s all.
14 For God will bring every work into judgment,
Including every secret thing,
Whether good or evil.

It all boils down to his final thoughts on the subject. That is, to fear God and keep His commandments, period. This is the be- all, end-all of everything related to humanity and our need to glorify God. The problem is that we too often go after things in life (even if they appear to be good), from a position of serving self. If/when we do this, we are essentially chasing vanity.

Let’s look at an example from the New Testament. In Luke 15:11–32, we learn of a young man who becomes a prodigal son. He’d gotten tired of living for the sole purpose of serving his father. He wanted to live, to have fun, to do the things he thought would be exciting and he also wanted to be out from under the rule of his father. So, he goes to his father and literally demands that the father give to him his inheritance. The father could have easily said, “No, you’ll receive your inheritance after I’m dead and gone.” But he didn’t. He acquiesced to his son’s disrespectful demands and gave the son what he demanded. The son immediately took off for a far country with his cash and began living solely for himself.

We don’t know how long the son remained away from his father, but it was likely many months if not a few years. One day, after having gone through his inheritance, he found himself alone. All his so-called friends had left him as soon as they realized he had no more money. He actually was forced to get a job but it’s clear he wasn’t making that much because he was always hungry and had nothing to eat.

Eventually, the son wakes to the reality of his own selfishness and stupidity. The Bible says he “came to his senses.” In doing so, he began to think clearly. He measured his own lifestyle he had been living against the reality of where he ended up and if I can borrow from Solomon, I’m sure the son thought that he had been completely vain in the way he had lived. He had done everything from the perspective of serving self. That was vanity to the nth degree. There was nothing good in it. All of it led him to the point where he eventually found himself. The good thing that came out of this is that he actually did come to the end of his own self-seeking and vanity. He actually became humble and realized how loving his father had been to him. In fact, he came to see that his father took great care of those who worked for him. They had a place to sleep. They had food to eat. Their lives were ordered and they were faithful to his father.

The son realized that if he went back to his father with a sincere apology and offered himself not as a son, but as a servant to his father, his father might just take him back into the home. Without wasting time, the son set about to do just that.

I’m sure you know the rest of the story, how the father saw the son approaching from a distance and ran to meet him and how the father would not have the son back as a servant, but instead treated him as someone who had risen from the dead! The son was taken aback, but likely understood far better just how loving unconditionally the father was toward his own from that point onward.

We can see how a person who lives for themselves essentially becomes increasingly vain. All they produce is vanity. It’s all about them; their wants, their self-care, their infatuations. This is the height of vanity and if not for Jesus and His salvation, we would all continue down that path, which leads to self-destruction. I believe this is what Solomon was getting at by showing all the examples of what he did to try to fill the void. It brought him to one absolute and final conclusion that is undeniable.

Segue to another portion of Scripture that also highlights the problem of self and living for self. In John 15:1-15, Jesus is talking with His disciples. We won’t get into all the details now because we’ll go over some of them in a future article. This chapter of John is the famous chapter about the fact that Jesus is the True Vine. He is saying essentially that originally, God raised up Israel to be the light to the world. We know how badly they failed and continue to fail at being that light today.

Jesus comes along and states clearly that He and He alone is the True Vine, not Israel. He, as Messiah (and our Savior), is the only One who came to perfectly fulfill the Father’s will. In doing so, the Father was well-pleased with Jesus and would ultimately exalt Him to the highest position once He completed the Father’s will for Him in this life. That included living sinlessly and dying for sinful humanity. John 3:16 tells us He died for the entire world – all people – yet only those who believe in Him will receive salvation. By the way, this does not negate God’s future plans for Israel during the Tribulation and following.

As the True Vine, Jesus acts as the nourishing agent. The Father is the vinedresser and prunes branches where necessary. That means that He sends difficulties to believers who need to grow and become fruitful. That applies to all believers, by the way.

Jesus then speaks of abiding in Him. Within the context of this chapter, we need to remember that He is talking with His disciples at this point. In verse 3, Jesus pointedly tells His disciples that they are clean already. Meaning, they are believers, washed in His upcoming blood poured out and to be sealed with the Holy Spirit. Once the resurrection and ascension of Jesus occur, they will be filled with the Holy Spirit forever. Because of their faith in Him and His upcoming death, their standing before Jesus is final and determined. There is nothing they can do to break that standing.

In speaking of abiding, Jesus is referring to having continual fellowship with Jesus. This must take top priority in the life of every believer. When we sin, we break that fellowship and only after we realize it, acknowledge it and thank Him for His forgiveness are we once again in fellowship with Him.

Starting in John 15:9, Jesus emphasizes abiding and loving. He invites the disciples (and us), to abide (remain) in His love. Stay there. Keep it foremost in our thoughts and hearts by reminding ourselves of His love as often as we can.

Verse 10 is where Jesus notes something that many of us tend to take the wrong way.

If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.

You mean there are rules I need to follow?! Yes, and it’s almost too automatic to think that Jesus is talking about the Mosaic Law here when He uses the word “commandments.” This is what Solomon was referring to in Ecclesiastes 12:13. When people talked about being obedient to God back then, they were automatically talking about obedience to the Law of Moses.

Jesus is not referring to the Mosaic Law here. Remember, He has perfectly fulfilled the Mosaic Law in His own life on behalf of every person who comes to Him in faith. This does not mean we do not have a law to obey. It means we are not under the Mosaic Law. So if Jesus is not referring to the Mosaic Law, what law is He referring to here? Ultimately, He sums up “commandments” into one statement we see in verse 12.

This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

What? Really? It’s that succinct? That clear? Yes, He is actually telling us what He means by obeying His commandments. But what is this love Jesus is talking about? Paul defines it for us in 1 Corinthians 13. Other New Testament writers also explain it so there’s no misconception regarding it.

The love we must live is the complete opposite of what normally motivates people in their lives (vanity). This love of Jesus is selfless as Paul explains starting in 1 Corinthians 13:4. Of course, the only way we can actually live like that is through constant dependence on the indwelling Holy Spirit. If we try to come up with our own facsimile of what we think love is, it might look something like love to others, but is it something we put on from the outside or allow to well up from within? Only the latter is the one is created by the Holy Spirit and for that to happen, we must give ourselves to Him by learning to appreciate just how much He loves us. I could say a lot about that and maybe I’ll add it to future articles. For now, know that the more we understand, know and realize just how much God loves us, the easier it becomes for us to share His love with others. It’s not about me creating what I think is His love. It’s about desiring Him to love others through me. That starts to happen because I am growing in the realization of just how much I am unconditionally loved by God. The tax collectors and “sinners” of Jesus’ day hung around Him because He was not off-putting. He clearly loved them and it was tangible. Think on that!

If we claim to be Christians, then we must endeavor to live as Jesus lived. How did He live? By loving people every step of the way. There were times He was tired, filled with grief, saddened and even angry. Yet, He never stopped loving people did He? Even when He was angry at them (like the Pharisees or Sadducees), He continued to love them. In fact, His anger was because He loved them and wanted to correct them for their own sake.

Verse 13 sums up what it means to love others.

Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.

Have we or do we ever love people that much? No, we don’t, not naturally. Loving as Jesus loves is the target because that is what Jesus did.  It is how He lived, 24/7/365. The more we give ourselves to God allowing Him to love others through us, not selfishly hoping to get something in return, but loving them because of how much God loves us, the more our character comes to resembles that of Jesus. This is the goal, but it only begins to occur within us when we walk away from the vanity that seeks to capture us and our lives.

Even if we pursue things that seem altruistic like ministry opportunities, we can still chase after those things because we want to elevate self. It’s the wrong reason to go into any form of ministry.

It is fascinating to me that the more I focus on how much God loves me unconditionally, the more that sinks in and the more I want to do the same thing toward other people. It makes forgiving people much easier. It makes serving people something that I don’t shrink from doing. It makes wanting to be more like Jesus a growing priority in my life.

The only true antidote for vanity is to replace it with true love for other people. The biggest part of that love for others means seeing them also come to Jesus for the only salvation that is offered to humanity. Amen?

August 24, 2026 at 1:39 PM 1 comment