“Remove falsehood and lies far from me” (Proverbs 30:8)  

“O my God, be not far from me!” (Psalms 38:21). Here we have the negative and the positive goals of the Christian – decrease in vanity and increase in intimacy with God. The happiest state of a Christian is the holiest state. Just as it’s hottest near the sun, so the saint is happiest near to Christ. The Christian should be uncomfortable when he indulges in vanity - he should be wary if he’s lost his sense of “righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17). 

 The world may find happiness elsewhere, but saints cannot. I don’t blame ungodly men for rushing to their pleasures. As the Apostle Paul said, pursuit of pleasure for its own sake is logical if there’s no afterlife. “If the dead do not rise, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!” (1 Corinthians 15:32). Let them have their fill. That’s all they’ll ever have to enjoy. A converted wife whose husband wasn’t saved, was always very kind to him, for she said, “I fear that this is the only world in which he’ll be happy, and therefore, I’ve made up my mind to make him as happy as I can in it.” 

 Christians must seek their delights in a higher sphere than “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” (1 John 2:16). No Christian is safe when his soul ignores the indwelling Holy Spirit. If he has reason to doubt his salvation, he should come back to Christ, as soon as he’s aware of the danger. 

 “Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death” (James 1:13-15).