Usually the best way to understand Scripture is to take it at face value. To simply read what it says and believe that that is exactly what it means. Not overcomplicating or over thinking things can be both refreshing and deflating at the same time. Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount brings me to this kind dilemma over and over and verse 8 is no exception.

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (v. 8). To paraphrase and apply this you could say, “Our happiness is the direct result of maintaining a pure heart because in doing so, you will have a living relationship with God.” So, Jesus in effect brings us right up to another spiritual crossroad.

At first blush, I guess you could think, “Is that all?” Piece of cake, right? All I have to do is keep my heart pure then I can truly sense God’s presence in my life. I am not sure about you but even apart from how the Bible describes the condition of our sinful hearts, my experience confirms it.

So, if our goal is a pure heart, what does that mean? As believers we are given a new heart that can actually know God. No longer enslaved to sin but still deeply effected by sin, right? Ok, so now what? “Purity” in this context means “undivided” devotion to God. That was the exact opposite of the hypocritical religious ways of the Pharisees. Here’s two verses to remind us of what not to be:

“‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; (Matthew 15:8)

“You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.” (Matthew 23:26)

Being a hypocrite is literally playacting your faith. Being a fake to the point that you know you are duping others about God being in your life. A hypocrite can be lying to himself about what is going on inside but I tend to believe people come to terms with their own emptiness and decide that their only path with God and religion is by going through the motions. This is a sad place to be because when someone is a sham, they are going to continue to harden their own hearts and influence others to do the same.

So, how can we dig out from this pit called hypocrisy? First, to have a pure heart, you have to be a true believer. Ask Jesus to forgive you of your sins, based on his sacrifice of the Cross, and ask Jesus to save you and then yield full control of your life over to him. When God saves you, then you will have a genuine desire to be pure and you will have the real power to be pure.

Here’s the tricky part. Even after you become a believer, you will still have remaining sin in your heart. The difference is that your sin is no longer in the driver’s seat unless you let it be. The Bible describes your hearts as sort of a mission control center comprised of our mind, will, and emotions. Each of these areas though still tainted by sin can now come under the control of the Holy Spirit.

So that said, what does undivided devotion to God look like? According to David’s testimony, it begins with being taught by God’s truth and then submitting in humble fear to God’s nature. David asks, Who shall ascend to the hill of the LORD? The answer is being that rare someone willing to repent of his sin, who is humbled by God’s presence, and who is honest. Like David, you have be undone by your sin, not rationalizing it away but in view of its ugliness crying out to God to make you clean and to put you in an appropriate frame of mind.

Teach me your way, O LORD, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name. (Psalm 86:11)

Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. (Psalm 24:3-4)

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. (Psalm 51:10)

How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. (Psalm 119:9)

This undivided devotion promises God’s presence. The Christian experience where you see God’s hand in your daily circumstances. Where you see alignment between your will and God’s will. Your prayers and study of Scripture make sense out of how your life is playing out. You sense God because you have a clean conscience and a hopeful heart.

Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. (Hebrews 10:22)

This is all well and good, but didn’t Jesus say that our hearts are still the source of so much trouble? Murder, adultery, fornication, stealing, lying, and blasphemy flow from the heart (cff. Matt. 15:19; Mark 7:15). It is true that all these motivations, and potentialities still lurk in the recesses of our hearts, even redeemed ones, however, Christians have God’s power to defeat these sins.

So how do you answer this dilemma of accepting how bad you heart really still is (even after becoming a Christian). Focus on God through what is to our own admission still contaminated with sin. Accept how dark and black our heart truly is and rely on God’s power and strength to move you toward undivided devotion. Into true worship.

Luther made this point comparing sin to physical dirt.

“Christ…wants to have the heart pure, though outwardly the person may be a drudge in the kitchen, black, sooty, and grimy, doing all sorts of dirty work. Again, ‘Though a common laborer, a shoemaker or a blacksmith may be dirty and sooty and may smell because he is covered with dirt and pitch,…and though he stinks outwardly, inwardly he is pure incense before God; because he ponders the word of God in his heart and obeys it.”

Opening yourself up to interrogating work of the Spirit, opens up sightedness where you see God in your daily experience. Undivided devotion is worth pondering, seeking, and fighting for. Ask God for strength to worship Him in this way today.

For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. (1Corinthians 13:12)