Preparing to See God

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. (Matthew 5:8)

Beloved,

            My wife thrives in details. She loves schedules and plans. Before taking a long trip, she usually packs the day before while I usually pack ten minutes before we leave. Early in our marriage, we were taking one trip to visit my family in California. As we waited in the line to go through security at the airport, my wife looked at me and asked (as she has done for every flight we have ever taken together), “Do you have your driver’s license?” I reached back and patted my pocket, making my eyes big saying, “Oh no!! I forgot my wallet!!” Her jaw dropped in disbelief, “Are you serious?” Her genuine fear of missing the flight made me quickly confess that I was only kidding. Although I may not love details, even I knew that if I wanted to see my family, I had to have my ticket and my ID. My desire to see my family affected my preparation.

            Do you desire to see God? Does that desire affect how you live? Jesus makes a wonderful promise for those who desire to see God in saying, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” There is a requirement for someone who wants to see God; one must be pure in heart. Purity of heart means one lives with integrity, righteousness, and morality driven from sincere motives. The “pure in heart” have a single-minded devotion to live for the glory and honor of Jesus Christ. They are like the blessed man in Psalm 1 who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers. He lives rightly.

            Jesus Christ is the only one who perfectly lived with a pure heart. He committed no sin and lived for the glory of his heavenly Father. And yet, he died in our place so that we would live for righteousness.  The Christian forsakes immorality and sin because they want to see God. The desire to see God overtakes the desire of the flesh. The pleasure of God is more important than the pleasures of sin. The Christian has been justified by Christ death and cleansed to walk in righteousness.

            We all will continue to battle the sinful desires of the flesh, so how do we overtake those desires? We replace our desire for worldly things with a desire to see God. Jesus Christ has said, “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God!!” What is better than seeing God!! If we want to change our behavior, we must to change our desires. Beloved, prepare to see God by striving to live with a pure heart for Jesus Christ, “who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.” (Titus 2:14)