1 - Introduction - Living like a real Christian 7 - Blessed are the pure in heart | Page 6

about how good he was and spoke of all the things that he had done in order not
just to impress God, but at the same time impress the people. Jesus compared this
attitude with the man who realised that there was nothing he could do to impress
God other than abandon himself to the mercy of a merciful God. What Jesus is
trying to teach us through this, is that purity of heart is far more important than
purity of hand.
The reason that Jesus emphasises this purity of heart is because He knows that it is
out of the heart that all sin emanates. The heart is the root of the sin problem. I
guess, if we were to put this into a simple day-to-day object lesson, we could liken
the heart to a tube of toothpaste, where when it is squeezed, what’s inside comes
out. The parallel for us, I think, is obvious; that as we go through our daily lives, we
react in certain ways. And sometimes when we react badly we are shocked at our
own reaction and will often say, “Wow, where did that come from?!” Well, the truth
is that out of a sinful heart come sinful reactions.
If you are looking for an Old Testament example of this, we could look at the hero
David and see that, for God, it was David’s heart that set him apart. In 1 Samuel 16 v
7 God says that He does not judge people according to their outward appearance,
but He judges people according to their heart. It was David’s heart that really got
God’s attention and it was David’s heart that led God to declare that David was a
man after God’s own heart (Acts 13 v 22). I think that what God said of David has to
be one of the highest compliments that could ever be paid.
As important as behavioural purity is, purity of heart is much more important
because when the heart is pure, everything that emanates from the heart (thoughts,
motives, intentions, values and behaviour) will be pure as they come from a pure
heart.
Prayer Thought: Maybe today, as you pray, won