Blessed are the Pure of Heart

Matthew 5:8

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."

When Jesus said this, He was with His disciples and a crowd of people and was teaching them a set of important values and with each value can a reward or promise. The pure of heart was one thing He talked about. It seems pretty straight forward, but really I believe it’s one of the hardest yet most important things we can ever learn and live by. A pure- hearted person is one whose motives are unmixed, whose thoughts are holy, whose conscience is clean. In order to obtain this it will require deliberate action on our behalf. Maybe we need to cut out certain music we listen to, or change the way we talk or who we hang out with. Maybe it is going to require us to choose different friends or cut things out of our life that we know are not pure. This may be hard but I promise you the reward is great: to see God! How we see God can be in many different ways. First the pure in heart see God now through fellowship in the Word and the Spirit. Second they sometimes can have a supernatural appearance, or vision of the Lord. Third they shall see God when he comes again in the person of Jesus Christ. Finally they will be blessed by seeing God in the future for eternity. And to be with God for eternity is by far worth every sacrifice we could ever make. It is the greatest reward of all.

Reflection

1. What do you think it means to be pure of heart and how can this apply to
you?
2. How are several ways you see God now as a result of being pure in heart?
3. What are several things you do that may not be so pure and how can you begin
to take steps to change your actions?

Take the Next Step

It may see hard or impractical to apply this beatitude to our everyday life. When we do we will face trials, temptations and maybe even ridicule, but when it gets hard just remember that we have been assured that soon we will see God. So I challenge you to take the step and begin to cut anything that is not pure out of your life. Take small, firm steps and know that every step of the way God is with you. He desires us to see and know Him and in the end every sacrifice will be worth it, just to see the one who has saved us!