Harboring Vanity

Psalms 66:18, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.”


While we walk with this great Christ through life, we will progressively come to see more within us that we at first knew not was within us. Christ has paid the price for us to live above sin and He has made the salvation possible in our lives, but as we grow in Him we become more and more aware of our own sinfulness. This is the true work of Grace; that Christ saves us daily from the sin that is even unknown to us, and that He deals with us in allowing us over time to come to see and understand our shortcomings and sinfulness. If Christ revealed to us how much flesh is in us right now it would be too much for our infinite minds to comprehend. This is why Christ saves us from sin, but is continually working that salvation within us through sanctification in the Holy Spirit. This is truly a Grace Salvation through both instantaneous and progressive Sanctification by the Spirit. The greater He reveals our shortcoming to us the more we must draw nearer to Him by removing (or allowing the Holy Spirit to remove) within us the evil desires and passions of flesh. To” regard” is the very act of seeing as in an open light and to harbor or hold on to with great desire. The term “iniquity” is the very act of vanity or to allow and idol to have root therefore producing sin. So by understanding this we realize that to “regard iniquity” means to harbor anything that God has pointed out in our life that is of vanity or idolatry.

Understanding that, “the Lord will not hear” our desperate calls of help in our times of trouble if we allow known vanity and idolatry to go unhampered without asking Him to deal with us and allowing Him to cut the cancerous state from us. This act is what causes God to turn us to a reprobate mind. So I pray today for all that read this to see that if God has made a sin known to you, don’t harbor it, for it is truly vanity. No matter if it is something that you think is okay and fun for you, don’t harbor flesh. This is what brings death; “for to be carnally minded is death.” Vanity is anything that is not the Thrice Holy God or pertaining to His edifying, therefore if lived in your life has the potential to bring death. Vanity is the cause of idolatry oftentimes, and every soul that holds known idolatry will be living a life of nothing less than pure unadulterated vanity. Whatever takes your time from God is your God. Whatever holds you from coming nearer to Him will very soon hold you forever in its arms of spiritual death. Don’t harbor vanity, for that is like desiring death from God.