James writes, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights.” So it is, and the gifts of God are many! Peace, righteousness and joy. Mercy, justice and abundance. Grace and love and every spiritual gift – and these are but the first fruits of knowing Him! If that be so (and it is), then what of the source of all that blessing? Surely the greatest blessing of all is not the gift, but the giver Himself!
So it is. The blessing of God’s presence far exceeds every other blessing, for from Him comes all we need and all we were made for. It is life itself to be near Him, for He is life.
To be relationally close to God is peace, to be emotionally close to God is joy, to be spiritually close to God is true life. It is the deepest sense of peace, the greatest joy, the highest honor – to be close to Him in every sense of the word. To be physically in His presence is an unimaginable honor. To look upon His face is the most profound blessing a created being can experience. So when Jesus says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God,” we can know that the pure in heart are blessed indeed!
Being pure in heart is not something that we are born with. Nor is it something you gain without thoughtful intention. Though it is entirely of God’s own volition, it is yet a condition that we’ve mindfully chosen and sought after. As the Psalmist wrote long ago, “Who may ascend the hill of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false.” Indeed, Hebrews tells us that without holiness no one can see the Lord! For this reason it is imperative to guard one’s heart and ensure that wickedness has no place in it. Proverbs warns us, “Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life.”
When we do watch over our hearts – when we practice the spiritual disciplines of reflection and rest in God’s sight – we find that His still small voice calls us ever deeper with Him. Not all still themselves long enough to hear that, even though He gives all who seek Him opportunity. But those who do inevitably find themselves entering a season of repentance. We should expect as much. Asking the Spirit to search our hearts will always result in Him finding something that is keeping us from going deeper with Him. How could He not? We are fallen beings living in unredeemed flesh, and the Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. How could He not find something more when He plumbs the depths of our wispy souls? There is always something else of us to loose, and something more of Him to gain.
If anything, this is the great take-away, the greatest nugget of wisdom from the book of Job. For Job – righteous as he was, needed to repent of his own sense of righteousness in the end: “Then Job replied to the Lord: ‘I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted. You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.’ My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.”
By God’s great mercy to us, we do not need to suffer loss as Job did to come to that conclusion. We can take time to seek His face and we can prayerfully ask His Holy Spirit to search us. Seeking His face may be uncomfortable for a short season, but it results in the most profound blessing. For when we do see ourselves for who we really are and so repent, He is ever gracious to receive our repentance. He removes the sin from us, and we gain purity of heart. Made more like Him, we see Him clearer than ever before!
When we suspend our own activities and get down at the foot of the Cross and meditate there, God brings His thoughts to us by the Holy Spirit and interprets them to us. […] We can never get those thoughts for ourselves. They are the free gift of God for anyone and everyone who is learning to pay attention to Him.
Oswald Chambers
APPLICATION: Worship
Seek Him in prayer.