Freedom is Good News Part 173

It has been many years ago that this endeavor of writing an article on “good news” began.  This article marks the 200th article I have written.  Seems like a mile stone of sorts, maybe even an opportunity for celebration!!

But before we start that, I have a question for all of us; have these articles done us any good?  What in the world could I mean by that?  Well, if my effort in writing and your effort in reading have not had some effect on our lives then we are operating in the realm of vanity.  And what is the definition of vanity?  Webster’s dictionary says, “Any act that is empty, futile or worthless”.  I, for one, am not comfortable operating in that manner and I hope you are not either.

So, perhaps this is confession time!  This really has been a fulfilling endeavor for me.  I do not just write them only in the hope that you are edified, but I write them in the desire that I, too, learn something – and I have.  So let’s move forward with this.

There is much that goes on in this world that might be labeled vanity.  In our previous article I wrote, “Satan will take one of God’s truths and place an hundred lies around it.  He really does not care which lie we choose; if we bite on any of the “hooks” he has set up, he wins.”  This, of course, happens quite often in many religious circles.  Satan knows just how to spend his time while getting us to waste our time.

One of the greatest lies that he has put forth is indeed, vanity; that which is empty, futile and worthless.  We live in the greatest, most affluent nation the world has ever seen.  Our lives revolve around many episodes of vanity.  We see something that has great value and yet we treat it as empty and worthless – I might label many things along this line.  The bible is one thing that comes to mind.  There is no book on the face of this earth so valuable as God’s word and oft times we let it lie on a shelf collecting dust. 

Satan wants us to spend our time with that which is vanity.  Take for instance a simple work of fiction, written by a mere human and we treat it with adoration and recommend it to our friends and loved ones.  Oh, I’m not pointing any fingers here for I too have done this.  There is nothing intrinsically wrong with reading a good piece of fiction – reading is always stimulating to the mind and will usually increase our outlook and intellect.  It may be labeled as entertainment and we all need some of that.  It only becomes problematic when this is the only reading we allow into our lives.

We could go on looking at many areas of our society for the empty things it provides for us but let me ask another question – what is the opposite of empty and worthless?  Well, that’s easy; and you say; “that which is full and valuable”.  In the bible, however, the opposite of vanity is “glorious”.  On the one hand we have, “Do not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.”  And on the other hand we read, “Ascribe to the LORD the glory due His name.”  One thing we are told not to do and the other we are urged to do.  Vanity verses Glory – it is worth thinking about.  Until next time – consider the good news and give glory to God!!