Oswald Chambers says “spiritual vision depends on our character.”  King David understood this when He cried out to God to create in him a clean heart and renew a right spirit within him. He knew that his closeness to God and his ability to receive clear direction was dependent upon the condition of a heart towards God. An unforgiving, disobedient heart towards the word of God would block him from seeing God and God’s vision and direction for his life.

In Matthew 5:8, we are told that the pure in heart are blessed and they will “see God”. That does not mean we physically see Him in this life. It means we understand His character and see Him act on our behalf for His glory. It means to experience His daily presence as He sanctifies us to become more like Jesus in our moral and ethical character. Having a pure heart means our minds, motives, and principles are pure because they are based on what is pure – His word (Psalm 119:140). The word pure in the bible means “not contaminated”. To be contaminated is like putting arsenic in a glass of fresh “pure” spring water. The water was good for you until the arsenic was introduced. Well the “pure” word of God (Prov. 30:5) has no contaminates in it until “we” add them like, doubt, fear, unforgiveness, envy, hatred, ungodly anger, adultery, etc. In other words unconfessed and unrepentant sin contaminates our life (moral character and ethics). It hinders our ability to fellowship with God and maintain a pure heart to receive His life giving word and spiritual vision for our lives – in this life.

During this time of the virus and quarantine, it so easy to be distracted with the media, binge television, and the cares of the world. Let’s take this time to ask God to cleanse our hearts and make them pure. After all, we do want to see Him and live out His will for our lives.