Blessed are the pure in heart.  (supplement to James 3)

We consume a lot of fruit in my home – though by far, the most sought-after fruit by all of us is the apple.  Danny likes the Gala, while Dean, Dylan and I usually prefer the Fuji.  I have been thinking about it--do we even know if it was an apple that Eve plucked, took a bite of, and gave to her gullible partner, Adam?  No matter, it seems so innocuous, does it not?  I mean, she did not kill anyone, she did not slander anyone, she just took a bite of fruit, and then shared it with her husband …. right?  ‘Shows she was generous, right?  ‘Shows she wanted to be open with her spouse, right?  What was so wrong with eating of that fruit? 

Motive.  “Motives are weighed by the Lord,” Proverbs 16.2.  Why was Eve eating the fruit?  Was she hungry?  No, look back in Genesis chapter 2 . . . the Garden was filled with fruit trees, plants and animals.  No, hunger was not at issue for her.  Adam and Eve had everything in the world, plus open communication and relationship with God, and one another. –yeah, just think of that! -   BUT Eve was enticed by what the Tempter said to her, in Genesis 3. Look it up, or simply: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%203:1-7&version=NIV,  The Tempter appealed to Adam and Eve in the area of pride.  IF you eat, THEN your eyes will be opened, and you will be LIKE GOD.  They went their own way, rather than God’s, because they thought they knew better.  That was their motive in disobeying God.  Motive.  A weed popped through the ground at their feet right then, and all of us gardeners groaned as we watched a gopher snag a Stargazer Lily from three feet below.  Yup, from one bite of that fruit.  Motive – pride.

And yet something Jesus said keeps playing in my mind.  I can see him saying it as he looked out over the crowds who were sitting along the hillside . . . “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”  I have been beseeching the Lord all week---yes beseeching, for that is stronger than asking---‘what did you mean, and what does it mean to you for imperfect human beings to be pure in heart?’  So, pure means unadulterated, unaffected, uncontaminated . . . in essence, clean!  E.V.O.O. with no floaties. 

purity of heart is to will one thing, Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard quipped . . . what is that one thing?  To be found righteous in you, God.  To think your thoughts after you, God.  To know that, yes, we are your ‘poema’, we are your workmanship, created by you to do good works, before the world began.  Purify my heart, Lord Jesus.  Cleanse me of all that is of me, and not of you. Sweep away motives that bring glory to me and not to you – you know, things that will make me look good, rather than you.  Help me release people of my expectations of them, for I hold them prisoner in my heart.  Quiet my mind of my fears of not meeting others’ expectations, reminding me that I play to an audience of just One.  Quiet my heart.

>“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” Matthew 5.8.   What does it mean to be pure in heart?  It means to be holy.  >Work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord  Hebrews 12.18.    >Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy  Ephesians 4.24        >Live in holiness and honor.   1 Thessalonians 4.4.                                          >You must be holy, because I am holy.  1 Peter 1.16. 

Purity of heart is to will one thing: to be found in God.  And still, Friends, it is not a striving that God is after; it is not struggling to hit a benchmark of just so much righteousness--he wants our hearts.  When we love him and give ourselves to him, he works his holiness out in us.  That is why I love John chapter 15, where Jesus was sitting with his disciples, his best friends, inviting them—inviting you and me—to abide in him, because then he will abide in us. 

Abide in him,

Christine