Pure In Heart

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” – Matthew 5:8

Someone has translated Jesus’ statement in Matthew 5:8, “Blessed are the utterly sincere” (J.B. Philips). Being pure in heart is about attitude, wholeheartedness, full intention, and single-minded devotion. Jesus says it is these people who will “see God.”

The idea of purity in Scripture is generally the idea of not mixed or diluted with something else. So, an impure heart is one that contains something it shouldn’t. And it doesn’t have to BE FILLED with something else in order for it to be an impure heart. Just as we wouldn’t think food would have to be filled with mold or botulism for us to consider it impure and unfit for consumption, a heart need not be filled with evil for God to consider it impure.

Let’s take this one step further. We get that a heart that contains some evil is not pure. That’s easy to see. But what about a heart that is distracted by something that isn’t in itself evil? What if we try to mix our hearts with total devotion to God and total devotion to family, job, sports, etc.? Those things are not necessarily sinful, but what if we allow them to dilute our devotion to God? Are our hearts pure (not mixed or diluted)?

Ask ourselves these questions like these to determine our hearts…

  Do I have bad thoughts about others and sinful things?

To I think about spiritual things often or only physical life things?

Do I focus on spiritual things by praying, reading the Bible, and attending worship assemblies?

Do I ask God to help me focus more and more on His things in life?

James wrote: “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded” (4:8). God will forgive us of our sins and purify our hearts if we will let Him. But we have to let God into our hearts and minds.

Did you notice that Jesus said, “…they shall see God”? (Mt 5:8). Who will see God? The pure in heart people. Not the people who aren’t pure in heart, who aren’t sincere, who are just faking it so others will think they are good. Our hearts are THAT important! “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it” (Pr 4:23 NIV). Do we want to see God? Then come to Him utterly sincerely, wholeheartedly, with single-minded devotion. Come to Him with a pure heart and you will see God.   dd