Jesus 101: Pure Inside

 
Medical science has developed amazing tests to look at our physical hearts.  They include catheterizations, CAT scans, MRIs and more.  They can even open our chests and examine our hearts with their own eyes.  

But science will never develop a test that can look at our spiritual hearts.  That's our inner world of being, where we are who we are.  

Ancient people believed their hearts were not only the center of their emotions, but also of their thoughts and will.  We say, "I thought."  They said, "I said in my heart."  

In this context, Jesus spoke his sixth beatitude, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."

The word "pure" means to be "thoroughly clean," even "scoured."  To be pure in heart is to be pure in your inner world, in the place where only you and God can see.

Many religious leaders in Jesus' day weren't pure in heart.  They felt as long as they were clean in their outward conduct, it didn't matter what was in their hearts.  In Matthew 23:25-56, he said they were like dishes that were clean on the outside but dirty on the inside.

Judging purity of heart is difficult because people can appear to be acting from pure thoughts and motives when they aren't.  Sometimes we even fool ourselves!  In Galatians 5:16ff, the apostle Paul suggested that the fruit that comes out of us is a good indication of what's going on inside us!

How do we become pure in heart?  We begin by putting our faith in Christ in our hearts.  When we do that, the Holy Spirit enters us and begins a transformational process.  We continue in that process as we pray, meditate on the scriptures, and hang out with people who are pure in heart.

Jesus said the pure in heart are blessed because they will see God.  As members of God's eternal kingdom, they will see God, the ultimate example of purity of heart.  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

God's Dynamite: The Battle Within

Image
"It was on fire when I lay down on it."  Robert Fulghum wrote about reading this statement in a small town newspaper.   Smoke was billowing from a second story window.  The Fire Department arrived, broke down the front door, ran up a set of stairs, and pulled a man off a burning bed.  Later, when they asked him how he got in that predicament, he said, "It was on fire when I lay down on it." Why on earth did he do that?  We don't know, but his story reveals a human truth.  We often do self-destructive things.  We testify, "People told me not to do it, but I did it anyway."  "I knew it was wrong, but I did it." The apostle Paul wrote about our human propensity to sin and self-destructive behavior in Romans 7:14-25.  Verse 15 sums up his point, "I do not understand what I do.  For what I want to do I do not do and what I hate I do."   He describes an intense inner battle.  On one side is the "flesh," his
Read more

God's Dynamite: More than Conquerors

Image
One person goes through a terrible experience and emerges from it stronger, more mature, and more loving.  Another goes through a similar experience and emerges from it weaker, less mature, and bitter.   What's the difference? I think it has to do with what's in the person's heart.  It has to do with his or her faith and perspective of life.   In Romans 8:35-39, the apostle Paul asked, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?''  Is there any person or place or experience that can remove us from Christ's loving presence?  Trouble? Hardship? Danger?  Sword? Paul could answer this question because he experienced all the above and more.  He said, "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us."  We conquer all these things through Christ's love for us. To be sure, we can have times when Christ's love seems far away from us. In the depths of suffering in times like these, we can won
Read more

God's Dynamite: Resurrection Transformation

Image
Easter is about more than you going to heaven.  That's part of it, but not near all!  It's about your death and resurrection. In Romans 6, Paul was answering opponents.  Those opponents said that if salvation is by God's grace through faith, then you have no motivation for righteous living and good works.  Why not sin more to get more grace? Paul answered by using the image of baptism.  He said when the pastor plunged you under water, he symbolized your death in Christ.  Through faith you died on the cross with Jesus.  Your old self was a slave to sin and rebellion against God.   Paul said when the pastor raised you up from the water, he symbolized your resurrection in Christ.  Not just in the future but in the present.  In faith, you identify with Jesus' death and his resurrection.  You're raised to a new life, free from slavery to sin. So Easter is about more than personal salvation.  It's about transformation: dying to an old life and ris
Read more