Key Verse: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they
will see God.”
Matthew 5:8
In a society in which so many things are watered down, from
vanilla extracts to truth, and imitation goods have become satisfactory for
consumption, purity is a valuable commodity that is very hard to come by. Purity is gained by a process of refinement
that adds to its value. Refining often removes impurities making the
flavor stronger or the metal stronger in the process.
Consider this, it takes 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon
of maple syrup. We can probably think of
other examples of products in our lives that require refinement, from foods to
gasoline before we can use it. Even
parts of jewelry, such as diamonds, gold and silver become more valuable as
they are refined. That's why so many of
us are content to settle for an imitation. It is less expensive and works about the same,
but in truth, it's not the same and an imitation certainly is not pure.
When we consider that we are sinful creatures, born in sin
and bent toward sin, yet desiring to be in the presence of a holy God who
cannot be near sin, what an amazing amount of refining is required. Yet, Jesus tells us that, when we have become
"pure in heart,” we will see God. When
we do see Him, we can no longer be content with an imitation.
It is said that the Lord loves us as we are, but He loves us
too much to leave us that way. When we accept Him as Lord of our lives, He
begins a refining process that removes the dross, the foolishness and desire
for sin that is in our lives because He wants us to be able to see Him. Doesn't
that just make sense? What loving Father
would not want His child to be able to see and speak with Him face to face? "See, I have refined you, though not as
silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. For my own sake, for my own sake I do this. How can I let myself be defamed? I will not yield my glory to another.” (Isaiah 48:10-11) We may find the process of refinement painful,
but it is for His glory. He is our
loving, Heavenly Father who wants to draw us as close to Him as we possibly can
get.
When is He done? Well, when we reach heaven, we will be
perfectly like Christ in character, but while here on earth, Psalm 15 gives a pretty
adequate description of what God is aiming for in our lives. Someone whose walk is blameless, loves
righteousness, is not a lover of money and speaks the truth has a good start on
God's purification process. Yes, the
process is long. It will take your
lifetime to complete. But, think of the
reward when it is done! You will see God
face to face and live!
Hymn: "Rejoice Ye Pure In Heart”
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