Pearls of Great Value

There is beauty in being pure, not only in body, but in soul as well. There is something to be said and greatly to be applauded about living a lifestyle that portrays the goodness and purity of God: His holiness, righteousness, and glory on display. I’ve been caught in the thinking that if I’m pure in body that’s all that matters. The fact of the matter though is that there is much more to holiness than this. God calls us to be pure in heart and calls those who are pure, blessed: ““Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. (Matt. 5:8).

What is this purity in heart? We all know what it means to keep ourselves pure in body, that is, to flee sexual immorality, and to consider that our body is the temple of the Lord and therefore to treat it as such. But what does it mean to be pure in heart?

First, what is purity? In the strongs Bible accordance it’s defined as clean, unsoiled and also virtuous, upright, sincere, void of evil. Keep this in mind and read the verse again in Matt 5:8. The amplified bible says it like this: ““Blessed [anticipating God’s presence, spiritually mature] are the pure in heart [those with integrity, moral courage, and godly character], for they will see God.” So purity of heart is to be full of godly character, to be virtuous and living upright. ( love that word! up and right, reminds me to look up and then live and do right.)

Pure in heart also includes our thought life, what we read, and what we chose to listen to and watch. I can say I’m pure in body, but if then go and read what isn’t godly or view what  would soil my heart, that is impurity in action. Neither can I be a gossip, slanderer, or bitter filled person and call myself pure. Those things are on opposite spectrums.

We can build purity in our hearts by seeking after the kingdom of God and those things which edify. In doing this, on a daily basis, we’ll destroy every stronghold impurity might have built within us. This is how I picture purity building her house. Day by day, brick by brick, building on what is good and true, pure and right. Soon, there’s a solid house, built on the rocks which no storm or enemy can destroy.

When I think about purity of heart, the face of a child always comes to my mind. I see the peace that fills their eyes and how content they are. They live and move in relaxation. Why? Because they trust that they will be and are provided for, with their every need met. See, purity of heart also includes trust. If I’m worried and fearful every moment of the day, I’ve chosen to plant seeds in my heart that will not bear fruits of purity. If I have chosen worry( which is only meditation on the wrong thoughts when God has given us a list in Phil 8 on what we should be thinking on), if I have chosen worry, I’m proclaiming that I believe God can’t meet this certain need or help in the circumstances. This automatically creates a roadblock from heaven to me. Yes, we are often our own worst enemy. Fear and worry destroys goodness and faith. The pure in heart are blessed! Why? I think the purity of a child is the highway upon which blessings flow upon. Don’t be deceived into thinking that worrying will ever help you. Has it ever? Even once? My grandma used to say that worry is like a rocking chair. It will give you something to do but will get you nowhere. What if we made it a point to pray every single time we catch ourselves starting to fret or fear? To praise God for providing us with answers and solutions? I think it will benefit us greatly!

Just as a side note. How do we grow in trusting and believing God? I think we could study on trust day in and day out, but we’ll never grow in trust until we have a revelation of His love. How can you trust if you don’t know/ believe/ receive of Gods love for you? If there is one thing universally that I could pick for believers to study and grow in, it would be to know the love of Christ. To know and believe the love of God the Father. The knowledge of love has an amazing way of healing, restoring, blessing, and glorifying. It’s when we draw near to the author of love and abide in love itself(God IS love), we will have no problem believing and trusting whatever He says to us in His Word. “Blessed [with spiritual security] is the man who believes and trusts in and relies on the LORD And whose hope and confident expectation is the LORD. For he will be [nourished] like a tree planted by the waters, That spreads out its roots by the river; And will not fear the heat when it comes; But its leaves will be green and moist. And it will not be anxious and concerned in a year of drought. Nor stop bearing fruit.” Jeremiah‬ ‭17:7-8‬ ‭AMP‬‬

There is beauty in holiness. Holiness is more than purity. It’s also, like the temple, consecrated and set apart for Gods purpose. I’ve seen pictures replicating Solomon’s temple and it is beyond beautiful. It was bedecked in gold and other precious material. It was made out of the best materials possible: cedar trees from Lebanon, gold, silver, brass and iron. Upon all the walls were carved figures of cherubim, palm trees and open flowers. There was gold everywhere, even the floors were overlaid with it. Some writers say that its outside pillars shone so brightly in the sun that from miles away you would’ve seen it shine. This is to me a picture of how beautiful holiness looks and how attractive it is. When God calls his children a holy and peculiar people, called out and chosen, this is the vision He has for us and of us. How we choose to live up to this is on us.

Purity isn’t by chance or by luck. The temple took years to build. Likewise, we also have to make purity a lifestyle, an attitude, and have a powerful desire to possess and build it. If we don’t make it a goal, we’ll never possess its shine. It’s not enough to desire purity, one must seek and strive to pursue it. One must permeate the mind with the precious truth of scripture which washes and cleanses, purifying the heart and soul. Gods spirit works through His word and an increased intimacy with this Word results in an increased hatred for anything ungodly. This is Purity.

To put it simply: if I’m neglecting Gods Word, I will lack holiness and purity. If the Word of God holds no priority, then for sure neither will purity be important to me. The path to purity is  through Gods word. ‭‭The two hold hands and pave the way before us.

Father, we pray for hearts that are convicted to live in purity and holiness. Nudge us, Holy Spirit, to get rid of anything that isn’t of the kingdom of God. May we live clean lives that reflect heavens beauty. Give us this picture in our hearts of a pure river that is flowing beside green pastures, anyone who comes upon it is refreshed and marvels at its beauty. We are that river full of light and life. Thank you for awakening truth in us. Thank you for stirring within us a desire to be holy as you are holy. You are the very best in me, let me reflect this to the world around me. Amen