Words from the Rock
They are blessed whose thoughts are pure,
for they will see God.
Matthew 5:8 NCV
Jesus said you’ll be blessed when your heart, that hidden inner place only God can see, becomes clean and pure. But how do you purify a heart? It’s not like you can take Lysol and bleach and give it a good scrub. Even if you could clean it yourself, it would only get dirty again. Because the moment you have bad thoughts toward someone, or feel jealous, or get angry, or lie, or cheat, or hurt someone, your heart gets messed up again. Oh, you can pretend like everything’s nice and neat because no one besides you knows just what your heart looks like inside . . . well, except for God. He knows.
And God is the only one who can clean your heart. He did this once and for all by sending his love and forgiveness to earth in the form of Jesus. When you invite Jesus to live in your heart, he’s the one who starts cleaning things up. Your job is to cooperate and let him. You can do this by being honest with him, by asking him to help you with areas of your life that need cleaning.
Just as a house needs to be cleaned on a regular basis, so does your heart. It’s one of those daily things—a job that must be done again and again. But the good news is that when your heart is clean, you see God in a whole new way—kind of like looking through a freshly cleaned window. And the more you see him, the more you start to look like him.
My Prayer
Dear God,
I invite you to do some deep cleaning inside my heart. I know that you’re the only one who can really make my heart pure, and I agree to cooperate. Show me the messy spots I need to turn over to you—and help me allow you to clean them in your own way. I want to see you more clearly. I want to know you better. Thank you!
Amen.
Final Word
The purpose of this command is for people to have love, a love that comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a true faith.
1 Timothy 1:5 NCV
Stone for the Journey
I choose to keep my heart clean by focusing on God.