The
Bonfire of the Vanities
“O
Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness, that you may be saved. How
long shall your evil [vain] thoughts lodge within you?” (Jeremiah
4:14)
In the Brian DePalma 1990 movie The Bonfire of the Vanities based on
the Tom Wolf novel, uptown Tom Hanks’ vain life as a Wall Street
bond trader and master of the universe unraveled when his mistress Melanie
Griffith hit a black boy in the Bronx with his Mercedes. Vanity pertains
to that which is empty, meaningless, or worthless in our lives. All
the vanities of life are futile and useless in our spiritual walk with
God and must be thrown into the bonfire.
The
Bible tells us in John 6:63 that the flesh profits nothing and Psalm
119:113 says we are to hate the double-minded or vain thoughts and love
God’s law or the Word of God. To be vain is to be so full of SELF
or motivated by the flesh with all of our efforts amounting to less
than zero. It is to be falsely exalted by our own achievements, talents,
gifts, possessions, resources, or looks. Vanity smells in our lives
and is a stench in the nostrils of a righteous, majestic and holy God
for it brings no glory to Him. Vanity must be removed from our hearts,
souls, minds, eyes and friendships before we can be used mightily by
God as His golden vessels of honor to display His glory in these last
days.
Psalm 94:11 says “The LORD knows the thoughts of man, that they
are futile [or vanity].” Our thoughts are generally vain as we
imagine things that are full of fear and unbelief, obsessed with the
idols of this world, loaded with lust and perversion, or drowning in
the cesspool of sin. The prophet Jeremiah attributed the wickedness
of the people of Jerusalem to their evil or vain thoughts. Their thoughts
of iniquity and lust were the root cause of their corruption. They were
contaminated by what they allowed to go through their minds.
We can
detect where we are spiritually by the very thoughts we feast on daily,
as our thoughts are indicative of how much of God we really possess. Since
sin begins in the mind, we need to keep a guard on our thoughts at all
times. We cannot afford to be divided, double-minded or frivolous in our
thinking. Our beautiful minds must adhere to the truth of the Word of
God, refusing to vacillate in doubt or unbelief. Psalm 119:37 instructs
us to turn our eyes away from looking at worthless or vain things and
we must be careful not to cultivate vain friendships for Proverbs 12:11
says that he who follows frivolity or vain persons is devoid of understanding.
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