For Reading and Meditation:
Matthew 15:1-20
Today we come to the Beatitude which is considered by many to be the most sublime of them all: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God" (Matthew 5:8). First we ask: What is meant by the term "heart"? According to the general use of the word in Scripture, it has reference to what goes on in the core of our being. The heart is more than just the seat of the emotions; it is the fount from which everything proceeds. In our reading today, our Lord put it thus: "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality '" and so on (v. 19). Dr Oswald Chambers said: "If a sinner really wishes to understand his heart, then let him listen to his own mouth in an unguarded frame for five minutes." Luke put it this way: "' the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks" (Luke 6:45). It has been pointed out that the gospel is a religion of new things. It offers us all a new birth, a new life, a new hope, a new happiness, and, at the end of time - a new name. However, out of all these fascinating new things which Christ offers His children, none is perhaps more intriguing than His offer of a new heart. The promise is first given in the prophecy of Ezekiel: "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you" (Ezekiel 36:26). Quite clearly, when it comes to spiritual things, the heart of the matter is the matter of the heart. Christ's offer of changing our hearts is one of the greatest promises of the Bible. Be encouraged: our Lord is not content with tinkering about on the surface of our lives - His goal is to purify our hearts.
My Father and my God, slowly but surely I am coming under the sway of Your "beautiful attitudes". But I see You have more for me to discover. Hold me close as I go through Your spiritual heart surgery. In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen.