Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
Matthew 5:8
Scientifically, "pure" means free of imperfections and contaminants.
Chemical compounds -- even commercial products like Ivory soap -- advertise that they are 99.44% pure.
"Pure" is a spiritual term too. Biblically, it means clean, unstaffed, blameless, and without guilt.
"Pure" also reflects the process of becoming honorable and blameless. Malachi 3:2 tells of a "refiner's fire" – a purify process. John 15 speaks of "pruning" – purity by sharp elimination. Both of these are reflect God's purposeful process of making his children holy, righteous, and pure.
And it's a purity of heart that God desires. The heart is, of course, the seat of emotions and the impulse of actions. The heart, in biblical, figurative language, is also the center of all that we are. And that's what God wants pure.
Are you pure to your very core? Well, that, as Jesus said, is how we begin to see God ... feel God ... touch God ... know God.
Sure, God can (and occasionally does) break through unexpectedly to make his presence known. And that's a few times in a life exception. Most commonly, though, the way to see, touch, and feel God is through ever-increasing purity.
All the time rebellious people say to me, "well, if I could just see God, then ..." Yes, God does occasionally speak to those hearts (though often they ignore it, because they aren't in a place to accept, change, and embrace). Yes, frequently God does speaking on our journey toward deeper faith and purity, rewarding us along the way. But mostly we know and see God when we seek God with a pure and obedient heart.
In Christ's Love,
a guy who uses Ivory soap
(my washed skin is 99.44% pure,
now I'm working on my heart)
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