Romans 8:20a, Jeremiah 17:9 For the creature was made subject to vanity, The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

These two issues are tied together but it is difficult to see. Original sin separated mankind from the love of God in our hearts. This left a void that only God can satisfy. Sin entered in but like a cancer consumes the heart of man rather than nourishing it.

Vanity in Romans 8:20 is to be defined as emptiness as to results. A vain attempt is a failed attempt, it does not accomplish the goal that it has set out to accomplish. Nothing man does for himself will ever fill the emptiness of a heart designed to be fill with God’s love.

Psychiatrist will often use the phrase “How’s that working for you?” If the definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over expecting different results, then only change can bring about a different result. Changing sins will not bring about a different result to fill an empty heart, it is still sin.

The difficulty for the lost is in admitting that emptiness is not of their own making. We try to fill that emptiness with things, activities, lusts, food (yes even food), and none of those things can fill the emptiness created by the absence of God’s love. “I must be doing something wrong, so I need to try something else” becomes our anthem without understanding what is missing.

The desperate heart of Jeremiah 17:9 begs for someone to change the results without understanding it is being consumed by sin. Someone has to explain to the lost that there is a diagnosis and a cure.

Surrender to God and let Him into your heart.

For many who are lost that makes no more sense than killing cancer by filling the body with poison, but if that is what it takes to be cured, then what choice do you have?