God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God. Matthew 5:8 NLT
Purity is a positive subject. Perhaps you have heard preachers preach about purity, and it only brought about guilt, but Jesus tells us purity helps us see God. When it comes to drinking water, we are not shy about wanting it to be pure. We would regularly get a drink from the garden hose when I was growing up. Now that would be almost unthinkable. Why? Because the bacteria that is in the hose is not good. Purity Matters.
Jesus purposefully went to a town in Samaria and struck up a conversation with a woman isolated from her community. Jesus met this woman at Jacob’s well and asked her to draw him water to drink. She replied, “Get it yourself.” Refusing to be offended, Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.” John 4:13–14 NLT
The woman asked for the water Jesus spoke about. He lovingly pressed toward the reason the woman was alone at the well. She had been married four times previously. The man she was now living with was not her husband. The day’s culture did not afford women the right to divorce a man. That right was given to men. Women were valued when they were able to give birth. If they were barren, the man had every right to divorce the woman. This may have been the reason for the woman to have been married and divorced four times.
Many have read this story and cast the woman as unfaithful and immoral throughout history. Maybe that was her reputation in that village as well. We cannot know for sure. However, we do know Jesus offered the woman pure water that led to eternal life.
Purity affects how we see God. The woman tried to change the subject. She tried to get Jesus to weigh in on a religious controversy about where they should worship God. Although she tried to switch the subject, she happened upon the fundamental issue of worship. Jesus said,
“But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.” John 4:23–24 NLT
The Kingdom of God comes offering a pure perspective from a heart that is purified to see God for who he is. Worship starts when we see God for who He is. Failed relationships can war against a pure heart. Idolatry and adultery are closely linked throughout the Bible and today. Israel’s heart was turned to idolatry. God exposed idolatry as adultery through the prophet Hosea. As a result of idolatry, Israel was exiled and separated from Jerusalem and the Temple.
Listen to the heart of God revealed through the prophet Ezekiel.
17 “Son of man, when the people of Israel were living in their own land, they defiled it by the evil way they lived. To me their conduct was as unclean as a woman’s menstrual cloth. 18 They polluted the land with murder and the worship of idols, so I poured out my fury on them. 19 I scattered them to many lands to punish them for the evil way they had lived. 20 But when they were scattered among the nations, they brought shame on my holy name. For the nations said, ‘These are the people of the LORD, but he couldn’t keep them safe in his own land!’ 21 Then I was concerned for my holy name, on which my people brought shame among the nations.
22 “Therefore, give the people of Israel this message from the Sovereign LORD: I am bringing you back, but not because you deserve it. I am doing it to protect my holy name, on which you brought shame while you were scattered among the nations. 23 I will show how holy my great name is—the name on which you brought shame among the nations. And when I reveal my holiness through you before their very eyes, says the Sovereign LORD, then the nations will know that I am the LORD. 24 For I will gather you up from all the nations and bring you home again to your land.
25 “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.”
God promises a pure heart. And when you have a pure heart, you worship God in spirit and truth. When you see God for who HE really is (worship), you can experience the reality of a supernatural God working in everyday life. From a pure heart we can truly see who God is. Free from the pollution of sin and selfishness we can know a God who goes out of his way to offer living water to the lonely heart.
Can I challenge you to ask Jesus to purify your heart so that you can see God? Good New God has a pure heart for you.
I liked:
“The Kingdom of God comes offering a pure perspective from a heart that is purified to see God for who he is. Worship starts when we see God for who He is. Failed relationships can war against a pure heart.”
We can count on something Jesus himself self said in Mark 10:
17 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’[d]”
20 “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”
21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
22 At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.
23 Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”
24 The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
26 The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?”
27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”
It’s so encouraging to know that only Jesus can give us a clean heart washed with his blood in Calvary!
I cling to the idea that for us it’s impossible to achieve a pure heart. No matter how hard and how long we try. But Jesus open the way for us to be so white as snow.
Let’s worship or Unexpected King our Lord Jesus!