The physical heart is a muscle that pumps blood throughout our bodies with the nutrients and oxygen needed for growth and survival. It is a vital organ physically. If your heart is not healthy, it affects the entire body. If the heart stops, you die. Because it is vital to our well-being we use the word heart when we speak of loving someone or to convey our emotions and our feelings toward something or someone. You may hear someone say, “I love you with all my heart.” They are not talking about the physical heart, but they are saying everything about their will and emotions is committed to loving that person. It is the inner person that is engaged and controlling the outward display of love. In Matthew 5:8, Jesus uses it to convey the inner person. When he speaks of the “pure in heart,” he is saying the heart involves the emotions and motives of that person. The internal being is pure, free of deception or hypocrisy. There is no pretense in their life. Their motives are not selfish or tainted with some ulterior motive. When a person is pure in heart, it shines through in their actions and attitudes. It reminds me of the old saying “what you see is what you get.” This heart is a healthy heart spiritually that gives life beyond what the physical heart can give. It is filled with love, admiration, and commitment to all that is holy and beautiful in God’s eyes.
Matthew 5:8 “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.”
In Matthew 5:8, Jesus gives us the reward for those who are pure in heart. They will see God. This is not talking about the seeing God as in Revelation 1:7 when everyone will see him, ”Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.” This is referring to a time when those who are His will see Him face to face, as in Revelation 22:4 “And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.” This is a special blessing to those who have sought to serve Him from a pure heart. Their desire is to please Him so much that they seek to be like Him. Their inward thoughts and feeling reveal who He is as they allow the internal to be revealed in the external. The only thing that matters to the pure in heart is that they continue to seek holiness that will please God.
Is it your desire to please Him in all you do? Do you loathe your sin so much that it hurts your soul to think how you have allowed impurities to enter into your life – a life that is owned by God and where the Holy Spirit of God resides? Or, is your attitude toward the sins you think are “not a big deal” defended as “nobody’s perfect?” While it is true no one is perfect in our mortal bodies, that should never be an excuse to sin. We are called to holiness and every sin is serious to God. He cannot be in its presence, He provides help to overcome it, and He expects us to flee from it. These would include sins of omission and commission. An example of sins of omission would include things such as a lack of study or prayer, lending a hand to someone in need, or failing to witness to those around us. A sin of commission includes anything He has commanded us to do through scripture such as lying, stealing, neglecting the house of God in attendance, gossiping, and anything else God says is sin.
If you long to see Him, to stand before Him face to face and hear Him say, “well done,” then you must pursue a life of purity. Seeking to be holy as He is holy. He has instructed us to be holy and He will never ask us to do anything that He will not empower us to do.
I Peter 1:16 “Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.”
Leviticus 20:7 “Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the LORD your God.”
