HOW CAN I MAINTAIN A PURITY IN HEART?
Matthew 5:8

We have been examining Jesus' teaching with regard to this sixth Beatitude:  Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.  Jesus identified the heart as the location for purity.  In the Bible, the heart is the center of the personality.  It involves the mind, the will, and the emotions.  Jesus said that it was out of the heart that the mouth directed its speech.  Whatever is in our hearts will be exhibited through our lives.  To use the proverb:  Garbage in and garbage out. 

So, how can I keep my heart pure?  First, I must stay in the Word of God.  Remember those words from the Psalmist:  How can a young man keep his way pure?  By living according to your word (Psalm 119:9).  The more I am in the Word of God, the more of the truths of God are being planted within my heart.  Therefore I am able to live a life of purity before Him.  James expressed it this way:  Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves.  Do what it says.  Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.  But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it - he will be blessed in what he does (James 1:22-25).  According to James, the secret of remaining pure is to practice the Word daily in our living.  Here, at the Village Schools, our desire is to not only teach the Scriptures, but to encourage our students to live the Scriptures in their daily life, therefore, remaining pure in heart.

Secondly, I must be controlled by the Holy Spirit.  Paul wrote to the Galatians and challenged them with these words:  So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature (Galatians 5:16).  I cannot live a life of purity on my own.  It must come from God.

The reward for being pure in heart is the privilege of seeing God.  This phrase can be literally translated as follows:  "they shall be continuously seeing God for themselves."  We might say, the pure in heart will enjoy continuous fellowship with God.  They will know the reality of Psalm 42:1 - As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.  Those who are daily in the Word of God will know God in a intimate way.  And their lives will give evidence of this intimacy. 

Father, Our desire is to be like Jesus.  We want to live our lives so that others may see the person of Jesus Christ through us.  It is hard to be pure today, but we praise You for Your Word through which our lives can be cleansed and made pure.  May we be diligent students of the Word, not just storing the knowledge in our heads, but living the truths through our hearts.  May our lives touch another today for Christ.  It's in His name we pray.  Amen.

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