During my nineteenth summer, my girlfriend and I visited my aunt’s family in Sweden. They took us to Dalarna for their historic Midsummer festival. We stayed in a charming stuga (cottage) by a clear lake surrounded by trees and wildflowers. Having come from Georgia where we swam in water the color of red clay, I’d never seen the bottom of a lake before. I stared trying to comprehend its clarity.
When I read, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (Matthew 5:8 NASB), I picture that lake’s transparent water. Don’t you want a pure heart with nothing between you and your Lord? A pure heart is the key to intimacy with God.
Eyes that see God reassure us—
- Relax, you’re not alone.
- Trust Me; I’ve got you covered.
- You have the Spirit’s power to obey and resist fleshly impulses.
Other verses agree that the pure in heart enjoy special fellowship with God.
“Who may ascend onto the hill of the Lord?
And who may stand in His holy place?
One who has clean hands and a pure heart,
Who has not lifted up his soul to deceit
And has not sworn deceitfully” (Psalm 24:3-4 NASB).
“God certainly is good to Israel,
To those who are pure in heart!” (Psalm 73:1 NASB).
As nothing clouded the Swedish lake, when my heart is pure, nothing clouds my vision of God. According to the blueletterbible.org, pure means “clean, free from corrupt desire, sin and guilt. Sincere, genuine.” Fear, worry, and bitterness can also muddy my heart and cloud my vision.
How does one become pure in heart?
Faith in Jesus and His shed blood cleanses us from all our sins (Romans 10:9-10).
“Let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water” (Hebrews 10:22 NLT).
The Bible connects obedience to faith (1 Peter 1:22). Hebrews 3 says disobedience hardens our hearts. A hard heart is the opposite of a pure one.
That is why the Holy Spirit says,
“Today when you hear his voice,
…don’t harden your hearts…
‘Their hearts always turn away from me.
They refuse to do what I tell them.’ …
Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God.…So we see that because of their unbelief they were not able to enter his rest” (Hebrews 3:7-19 NLT emphasis added).
How do we maintain a pure heart?
Faith, not perfect performance, pleases God. The moment we trust Christ, God gives us new hearts (2 Corinthians 5:17). We protect our hearts by walking by faith in the power of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:16). When we mess up, we fess up and Christ’s blood cleanses us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:7-9).
May we live 2025 with hearts as clean as that Swedish lake with nothing to muddy our view of God.
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (Matthew 5:8 NASB). #Faith Share on XResources
Evie Tournquist’s songs “Clean Before My Lord” and “He Love Me.”
Blessings,
Sometimes I link with these great sites:
#MondayLinkUp #InstaEncouragements, #TellHisStory, #Let’sHaveCoffee, #Grace&Truth
AMEN Debbie! I love that picture and can remember what the water looked like in Greece when I went with my family when I was 19! May we all cultivate those pure hearts that are able to see Him clearly!
Ann, those are good memories, aren’t they. Yes, may we protect our vision of Him.
Thank you so much for this beautiful reminder. I tend to let productivity, anxiety, and so many other things muddy my view of God and it makes it almost impossible to just rest in Him. Sometimes I actually go to the lake near my house and it is a visual and in my face reminder of the beauty of His creation and how that same peace comes to me when I just stop and be still.
Antonisha, what a lovely way to be still and experience God’s rest. Thanks for sharing.
That beautiful lake image is a perfect illustration of what God can do with a heart that is yielded to Him. The purity, peace, and radiance is palpable, Debbie. Thank you for this inspiration. It’s a perfect invitation into the new year. Bless you, friend.
Thank you, Linda. I want my heart to reflect that peace and purity. Blessing to you, too!
I return often to the challenge and the promise of Psalm 24. And growing up in Maine, when I saw the red lakes of Georgia, I could hardly bear to put one toe in the opaque water!
Yes, that muddy water is pretty off-putting! 🙂