Blessed Are The Pure In Heart


Meditation

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

What does it mean to be pure in heart? Am I really pure in heart? I’m embarrassed to say I struggle with an occasional, instant flash of hatred for anyone who cuts me off or does something stupid affecting me in traffic. Thankfully, it never even gets close to the point of road rage, where I want to force them off the road. The feeling of hatred leaves me almost as quickly as it comes. I always feel terrible about it and promise myself and God I’ll never do that again but…I repeat the exact thing I hate to do. It’s all because I want everything to go my way and when it doesn’t, I get really mad for a second. However, do those moments of failure disqualify me as being pure in heart?
It’s in my human nature to be self-centered. Since infancy, my thoughts and efforts have been centered around my own comfort. As I progressed through the stages of life from childhood to adulthood, I became very slightly less self-centered. I gave it my best effort to put my children’s needs above mine. It didn’t always work that way though. Even today, as a Christian, I struggle against selfishness. A few years after coming to Christ, I changed churches because the worship style didn’t make me feel good. My selfishness led me to think that the worship style was there to serve my needs, when it’s really supposed to be all about God. How can I even claim to love God when I have such selfish attitudes?
I’m sure I’m not the only selfish human on the planet. By nature, we are so egocentric, we have to constantly fix our eyes on Jesus. He set the example for how we’re supposed to live. A quote from Augustine of Hippo says, “Love slays what we have been that we may be what we are not.” Jesus is that love that Augustine spoke of. Jesus empties us of who we used to be and fills our hearts with his love. He was so pure of heart he prayed for forgiveness for the people who were nailing him to the cross. We must always look for ways to help someone else, even at the cost of our own self-interests. God wants us to have hearts as pure as a new born babe. It’s our heartfelt desire for purity of heart, and the sorrow for falling short, that counts. For that, we will one day be blessed to cast our eyes upon the face of God! Hallelujah!




Prayer Time

Our heavenly Father you make the world go around, literally. Our daily existence depends upon you. We thank you for your provision and safe keeping. Everything you do for us shows how pure you are. We want, most of all, to have a heart like Jesus. His zeal for the lost, and his willingness to suffer on the cross, gives us the best example of being pure in heart. However, Father our desire for pure hearts are always being negatively impacted by an evil, antagonistic, and materialistic society that hates you. Help us to overcome those who try to pull us back into the darkness you redeemed us from. Give us the desire to shine your light into that dark world by the example of a holy life. Remind us, we might be the only “Jesus” some people ever see, so we want to be “Jesus” in their eyes. Help us to always be mindful that our actions speak much louder than our words. As we walk through our daily lives, help us to always keep our focus on Christ, so we can meet the Father in heaven when this life is over. In Jesus’ precious name, we pray. Amen!
Location: Clarkson, NY 14420, USA

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