Having a pure heart
God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God. Matthew 5:8
In the sixth beatitude contained in the Sermon on the Mount delivered by our Lord Jesus Christ, He emphasized the blessedness of having a pure heart. It takes a pure heart to see God. You can engage in religious activities such as attending church services, reading your Bible, and praying, but if sin fills your heart, this will prevent you from not seeing God. It will be difficult to miss the change God does to the life of those who come to know Him as Lord and Savior for they will never be the same. The heart is the center of our being. Without God in life, the heart is wicked and sinful. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9). Unless we allow God to search our hearts and have His way in our lives, we will remain following our own ways. When the Lord Jesus Christ spoke of having a pure heart, He was referring to those whose sins have been forgiven. Their purity does not come from what they do but on what God has done for them when they admitted their sinfulness before Him and received His offer of forgiveness. This is what David prayed for after he realized the sin he committed to God. “Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10). Purity of the heart in this passage refers to having a single-mindedness in allegiance and obedience to follow God. You can project an outward appearance of righteousness and people might think you have a pure heart, but God is the one that has the authority and the right to assess if you have a pure heart. He wants us to come to Him and be honest in recognizing the fact that He alone could make us pure in heart. “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool” (Isaiah 1:18). Once you allow Christ to take hold of your life and every aspect of it, then God provides for you a perception that has the ability to see His ways and His will for your life. You experience God and you see His working in your life as the Holy Spirit moves you to His direction even when you are going through trials in life. In Isaiah 6, when Isaiah realized his sinfulness before the presence of God and asked Him for His forgiveness, God removed his sin as well as the guilt. “He touched my lips with it and said, “See, this coal has touched your lips. Now your guilt is removed, and your sins are forgiven” (Isaiah 6:6). Isaiah became aware of God’s presence and this brought to him a perception that led him to express his desire to surrender himself to serve Him. “Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?” I said, “Here I am. Send me” (Isaiah 6:8). If you feel that you are detached from God, it could be the sin that you keep on harboring in your heart. Come to God and ask for His cleansing and once forgiven be ready to experience His presence and be willing to serve Him.
Blessings,
