Recently I’ve been thinking about my life. Am I living it the way God intends me to? This always brings me back to the beatitudes of Matthew 5. How am I when measured against those attributes?
Needless to say, I have a lot of work to do.
The one that struck me the most was in verse 8: “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God” (KJV). We often overlook this blessed. We like the first one (the poor in spirit), or the third (the meek), or the seventh (the peacemakers). We don’t notice the third blessed.
What does it mean? Well, John 1:18 tells us that no one has seen God (at least fully and in His unrepressed form), so Jesus couldn’t have meant it in the physical sense.
I think Jesus meant, as He often did, our heart. When our desires are godly and our ways simple and honest, we see God’s Kingdom, His will, and His work everywhere. We see Him. We see how He moves. We see who He’s using. We see the fruits of our obedience.
So am I pure in heart? Am I upfront and honest? Our society values the sophisticated, complicated, mysterious individuals. We want to learn their secrets. They have an aura of power.
But as Christians, we can’t be that way. What you see is what you get. I’m going to love you and care for you and listen to you. I’m not going to lie to you. I’m going be a man of integrity, a man of character. I’m going to speak plainly and not act like I’m someone I’m not. My life goal is simple: I want to live like Jesus.
Because, if I ever do, I’ll see God in the little things. When a mother brushes the hair out of her child’s eyes. When a man gives me a warm handshake and a warmer smile. When leaves fall and nature prepares for another winter. God is in it all, and He’s moving.
You have to have a pure heart to see it.
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