The Trap of Vain Glory
'And
whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them; I kept my heart from
no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was
my reward for all my toil. Then
I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had spent in
doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and
there was nothing to be gained under the sun.' Ecclesiastes 2:10-11 (RSV)
'For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world passes away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides for ever.' 1 John 2:16-17 (RSV)
Through life and the pursuit of happiness there really is nothing to satisfy the hunger of the spirit like doing the Will of the Father. Hopefully, one does not wait until the end of it to consider what is important in life. Hopefully, one does not work just to satisfy the desires of the eyes or to bring the heart pleasure, for in these things that is our only reward. That is only striving after the wind. It is in our piles of things, and don't they lose their shine soon enough and bring little if anything of value to those that will take possession of these things after we are gone? That is the trap of vain glory. Our vanity in them will fade right along with us as our desires for more of the same grows never weary. When we seek our own glory, that is not glory and God considers us a fool. But there is hope.
For we are to desire and we are to possess the things that we have in the hope that they be used of God as He intended. He intends for us to use the things that we possess for the purposes of grace to bring Him glory and we are not to place more value on them than they deserve or to take their worth to the next level in which we allow sin to abuse them. For that is the nature of depravity. But the Love of God will never fail. For it is in the heart that we must first seek God and strive to have victory over the world. Through our constant watching and praying and by God's grace we can overcome the things of this world and stay humbly in His presence.
In our humility we find our hope in Jesus. Thankfully, Jesus's very own Disciples figured the ways of the world out before it was too late. They gave up everything in order to follow Him and He showed them how to gain the right perspective on the important things of their lives. They wrote about what they discovered so that we might figure it out as well. What they have to say to us is of eternal importance. Stop striving for useless things. Don't give your desire for them any power over you. Stay humble. Stop pursuing only the desires of the flesh. This world will pass away. The lust for the things of this world are not of the Father. All lust and pride that is in the world, is of the world and it is sin and will pass away with it. God is eternal.
But in life, consider this, even the one that does the will of the Father. Consider him as the one that will abide forever. The things that he does will last for all eternity. Those things of virtue will endure the test of time. Those things that we do in which bring forth God's Kingdom will never fade or lose their power to satisfy us.
Dear Father. We thank you for Your precious Word. The Word that endures forever. The Word that never fades. We thank you that it is not forgotten. Thank You for Your Grace. We recognize the brevity of life and the things of this world. We humbly offer up our things and even our lives to You. We submit to Your Will and Your Way. We pray and we watch that all things be done for Your Glory. In Jesus's name. Amen.
Source: Biblegateway.com; Biblehub.com; Ligonier.org; google.com.
'For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world passes away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides for ever.' 1 John 2:16-17 (RSV)
Through life and the pursuit of happiness there really is nothing to satisfy the hunger of the spirit like doing the Will of the Father. Hopefully, one does not wait until the end of it to consider what is important in life. Hopefully, one does not work just to satisfy the desires of the eyes or to bring the heart pleasure, for in these things that is our only reward. That is only striving after the wind. It is in our piles of things, and don't they lose their shine soon enough and bring little if anything of value to those that will take possession of these things after we are gone? That is the trap of vain glory. Our vanity in them will fade right along with us as our desires for more of the same grows never weary. When we seek our own glory, that is not glory and God considers us a fool. But there is hope.
For we are to desire and we are to possess the things that we have in the hope that they be used of God as He intended. He intends for us to use the things that we possess for the purposes of grace to bring Him glory and we are not to place more value on them than they deserve or to take their worth to the next level in which we allow sin to abuse them. For that is the nature of depravity. But the Love of God will never fail. For it is in the heart that we must first seek God and strive to have victory over the world. Through our constant watching and praying and by God's grace we can overcome the things of this world and stay humbly in His presence.
In our humility we find our hope in Jesus. Thankfully, Jesus's very own Disciples figured the ways of the world out before it was too late. They gave up everything in order to follow Him and He showed them how to gain the right perspective on the important things of their lives. They wrote about what they discovered so that we might figure it out as well. What they have to say to us is of eternal importance. Stop striving for useless things. Don't give your desire for them any power over you. Stay humble. Stop pursuing only the desires of the flesh. This world will pass away. The lust for the things of this world are not of the Father. All lust and pride that is in the world, is of the world and it is sin and will pass away with it. God is eternal.
But in life, consider this, even the one that does the will of the Father. Consider him as the one that will abide forever. The things that he does will last for all eternity. Those things of virtue will endure the test of time. Those things that we do in which bring forth God's Kingdom will never fade or lose their power to satisfy us.
Dear Father. We thank you for Your precious Word. The Word that endures forever. The Word that never fades. We thank you that it is not forgotten. Thank You for Your Grace. We recognize the brevity of life and the things of this world. We humbly offer up our things and even our lives to You. We submit to Your Will and Your Way. We pray and we watch that all things be done for Your Glory. In Jesus's name. Amen.
Source: Biblegateway.com; Biblehub.com; Ligonier.org; google.com.
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