How Pure is Your Heart? :: Deeper Devotion

By Glenn Ansley

Matthew 5:8
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Man has often longed to worship God. It is why we were created. Our worship has not always pleased Him though (Amos 5:23). While we religiously lift our hands to God on Sunday mornings, our hearts are often far from honoring Him. Although we have been made righteous through Christ, we continue to live in impurity. This displeases God. He does not simply require clean hands from those who one day hope to see Him face to face. He requires that we worship Him with pure hearts as well (Psalm 24).

Jesus counts those with a pure heart as blessed because they will one day see God. This is no small promise. It is a gift that has not been possible since Adam and Eve were kicked out of the Garden of Eden. The fact that anyone could once again see God face to face is the greatest of all promises found within Scripture. Jesus says those with a pure heart will do just that.

Has your heart been pure before our all-knowing God this week? Have you been longing for that day when you will see God face to face? I imagine that the answer to both of these questions is most likely the same. Jesus has spilled His perfect blood for your sins. God has counted Christ’s righteousness as yours. The reward is that you will see God face to face. Your duty to worship God with clean hands and a pure heart is only possible through Jesus’ sacrifice. You must honor him with a pure heart today, not because it will earn you the right to “see God,” but because your very ability to do so is a gift that you don’t deserve. The greater your passion is to one day embrace that gift, the greater your desire will be to live with a pure heart. This is why Jesus counts those with a pure heart as blessed; they hold tightly to a life-changing promise that they will one day see God.

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