The Pure Shall See

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

I am sipping from my devotional Styrofoam coffee cup. Last year for Christmas, my church staff gave me disposable coffee cups labeled with inspirational sayings. Today, the devotional saying reads, “Since the things of God are ‘spiritually discerned.’ A proper understanding of scripture is often more the result of an individual’s spiritual condition than his or her intellectual ability.” Although I cannot locate the exact source of the quote, it appears to relate directly to 1 Corinthians 2:14. “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

Many persons mistakenly believe that understanding the Bible and spiritual truth is related to intelligence and education, but often the opposite is true. Please, don’t get me wrong. After 26 years of schooling and three degrees, you can be certain I am completely for higher education. But persons acquire spiritual truth by revelation rather than by education. We can understand all the original languages of the Bible, but if our heart is not right, we will not be able to hear a Word from God.

When Jesus asked the disciples who they thought He was, Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” To this Jesus replied that Simon was blessed because the Heavenly Father had revealed this to Peter. At another place, Jesus commented on the way God the Father gives spiritual insight. “At that time Jesus said, ‘I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children’” (Matthew 11:25). God reveals Himself and The Truth, Jesus Christ, to those whose hearts are pure.

Fall is the season when young persons go off to college or begin a career in the workforce or military service. Parents and the church family often lament that young people lose their faith as they go off to college and career. Many times we blame the Survey of Religion Class or that “liberal teacher” as the cause for their loss of faith. Losing one’s faith may be directly related to willful disobedience in drug experimentation, sexual exploration, or walking away from God’s ways in disobedience. Spiritual receptivity and faith have more to do with heart purity and an individual walking obediently in the light they already have.

If you are having moments of doubt, or trouble understanding God’s Word, check your obedience level. Are you justifying some sinful behavior in your life? Is there a secret sin you are trying to keep hidden? “Blessed are the pure in heart.” Truthfully, we all have our “stuff.” We have all fallen from God’s intended purpose for our lives. We have all sinned. But, as we call upon the Lord in sincerity, out of a pure heart, God will restore us to a right relationship with Himself and reveal His Son, the Way, the Truth, and the Life, to us. God still answers the prayer of the old hymn written by Clara Scott, “Open my eyes, that I may see Glimpses of truth Thou hast for me; Place in my hands the wonderful key that shall unclasp and set me free.”