“Blessed are the pure in heart,
    for they shall see God.”  Matthew 5:8, TLV

Pure in Heart?   Once again, we pull from the gourmet feast that is commonly known as Yeshua’s “Sermon on the Mount” (Matthew chapters 5-7). Today’s verse is from the appetizer to that feast, known as the “Beatitudes.” Each Beatitude is a proverb-like proclamation, without narrative. Yet, if we read the whole beautiful “sermon” we see that it explains how to walk out each one.

Today’s verse: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” This is more fully developed in several subsequent lessons such as:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that everyone who looks upon a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.  (vss. 27-28, TLV)

Jesus is saying, “It’s good that you’re not committing adultery. But don’t get prideful. Because if your heart has impure thoughts about someone, then in our Father’s eyes, you’ve already committed adultery.”

Or, what about this one:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. (vss. 43-45, TLV)

That’s a tough one, especially with His Jewish audience. For thousands of years, the Jewish people had been hated and persecuted. To keep the them from being destroyed and/or assimilated into a pagan culture, GOD allowed them to fight their enemies. Now, their Messiah instructed them to cleanse their hearts of hatred and to love their enemies, to purify their hearts. Why? He was preparing them to go into the world to share the Good News (Matthew 28:19-20).

We all have impure hearts. Because we are redeemed children — covered by the blood of our Savior — we are acceptable in our Father’s eyes. However, our hearts still need a lot of work. As we have breakthroughs scrubbing out impurities, we will see our Father in a whole new way. Definitely, have even more gratitude for Him sending His Son, gratitude for His Son sacrificing so much for us, and openness to the Holy Spirit. He will aid us in cleaning up other areas of our heart.

Seems like a good system, don’t you think?

May your heart be pure and may you see GOD in a whole new way.

Shabbat Shalom! And, Chag Semeach!