Vanity
1. (n.) The quality or state of being vain; want of substance to satisfy desire; emptiness; unsubstantialness; unrealness; falsity.
2. (n.) An inflation of mind upon slight grounds; empty pride inspired by an overweening conceit of one's personal attainments or decorations; an excessive desire for notice or approval; pride; ostentation; conceit.
3. (n.) That which is vain; anything empty, visionary, unreal, or unsubstantial; fruitless desire or effort; trifling labor productive of no good; empty pleasure; vain pursuit; idle show; unsubstantial enjoyment.
4. (n.) One of the established characters in the old moralities and puppet shows.
I put all the definitions on here because I wanted you all to see that, once again, things are not what they seem. Most of us have perceived vanity as thinking too highly of yourself basically, spending a lot of time on your appearance, or puffing yourself up with false pride and bragging and boasting on yourself. As we can now see that is the second definition! The first and third definitions actually refer to a kind of emptiness of purpose. I must say that I believ the second definition to be very much in line with the other two. Too much time spent on appearance and your own ego is a pursuit of emptiness. Being beautiful does not make you a good person. Wearing nice clothes won't make others feel loved or impress God one bit. When you spend too much time on your appearance you are wasting time that could be spent on more worthy goals. I have no clue what definition four means. Feel free to enlighten me to who this character is!
Okay on to the practical applications. How many of us spend an hour getting ready in the mornings, doing our hair and makeup, dressing up and putting on perfume even? Okay now how many of us say we don't have time to spend in prayer or Bible reading everyday? I guess that means someone's lying! We have the time. We just choose to use it on other things! I spent quite a bit of time researching how to get into heaven and nothing I read mentioned Maybelline! I suppose if you plan to become a make-up artist this comes under the heading of practice, so perhaps it is justified for you, but most of us just want to look better. I choose not to wear make-up because I feel like it is false advertising and, therefore, deceptive and I feel like it is saying that God didn't do a good enough job when He made me. Plus we have gotten to the point where girls are no longer putting on a little blush to give them some color, but looking more like strippers and hookers going off to middle school. We ladies are setting a horrible example for our daughters when we opine about how ugly we are and how much we need to "do something" with our hair and our faces all the time. Wash your face, brush your hair and get on with your day! Oh, and I am sure I don't have to remind you all, but I hope none of us knows ANYONE who says these horrible things to our children!
How many hundreds or thousands of dollars have we wasted on make-up that is not quite the right shade once we get it home or clothes and shoes we never wear? Next time you have trouble paying a bill remember that!
What about the time and money wasted on video games, watching TV, chatting about nothing on a telephone? When you are old and dying will you think back and wish you had done something more important with that time? Maybe send a card to a sick friend, or played with your children a little more?
How much advertising is dedicated to convincing us we "deserve" something? Well, if I deserve it so much why don't they give me one?! That's not what the Bible says I deserve!
How many of you wish you could sew, or paint, or name the different birds you see? Well, if you'd stop worrying about the fictional characters on TV you might have time to learn some of that stuff. Has anyone ever called you and said they have waited all day for the chance to call you and find out what you watched on TV last night? If they have you are the exception NOT the rule. How many of you are planning to give out personal reviews of American Idol for Christmas this year? Yeah, I kind of thought not.
At the end of the day you can look back and see the time you wasted and resolve to do better tomorrow. At the end of your life you can't. Don't waste any more of your precious time on vain pursuits, please
