A Culture Of One Thing

Read: Matthew 5:3-12

God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God. Matthew 5:8

IN WORD

Our hearts aren’t completely pure. We know that. We’ve been told by a prophet that they are desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9), and though we’ve also been told by a prophet that we can have a new one (Ezekiel 36:26), we know some old things that still take place there. So when Jesus blesses the pure in heart, we aren’t very encouraged. We’re pretty sure we don’t qualify. We jump back to the first Beatitude and take comfort in our poverty of spirit. But for this Beatitude, we lose heart at the prospect of having a pure one.

The good news is that Jesus isn’t talking about spotlessness, at least not in practical terms. Perhaps He is referring to the cleansing that comes from His blood and the renewal that comes from His Spirit, but there’s even more to it than that. Having a pure heart means being singularly focused. The pure in heart are concerned with one thing: They are wholehearted in their desire for God. Their hearts are not distracted or filled with clutter. They are pure in their pursuit of Him and His Kingdom.

That’s encouraging. We can do that. It isn’t easy—we get distracted by lots of details in life—but we know what it’s like to be single-minded about something. A man in pursuit of his beloved, an athlete in pursuit of his prize, a researcher in pursuit of his great discovery—these are common human experiences. If that’s what it means to have a pure heart, we understand.

IN DEED

Some have called it a “magnificent obsession” or more biblically, a “pearl of great price,” or some other picture that captures the surpassing worth and beauty of the prize. Paul cast aside everything for it (Philippians 3:8), and we should too. That’s what Jesus urges His listeners to do. The pure in heart live in all-out pursuit of the things of the Kingdom, and of the King Himself. And they hang on to a promise: that their wholehearted devotion will result in the reward of seeing God.

ADDITIONAL READING: Psalm 24:3-6

Spiritual truth is discernible only to a pure heart, not to a keen intellect.

OSWALD CHAMBERS