A Pure Heart

"A good man says good things. These come from the good that is put away in his heart. An evil man says evil things. These come from the evil that is put away in his heart. Their mouths say everything that is in their hearts.  (Luke 6:45 NIrV)

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.  (Matthew 5:8 NASB)

The day I met my wife, Traci, we were walking into the main building on our small college campus.  We had parked in different parking lots, but the sidewalks from those sidewalks merged into one as it pointed us directly to the building.  The walk was outdoors and it was early enough in the morning that the sun was just rising over the horizon, painting a beautiful picture for our enjoyment.

I adjusted my pace to match hers so that when the sidewalks would merge, we would inevitably need to talk to one another.  "Well, I guess I should say 'Hi'," was my brilliant opening line.  "I was just thinking, isn't that a beautiful sunrise?" was her equally unrehearsed response.  I remember thinking as our conversation progressed that she seemed kind...simple...even a little naive.  There were things she simply didn't know about that I had picked up from my all-boys High School.  There were movies she hadn't seen.  There was music she hadn't experienced.  There were books she hadn't read.  I really couldn't figure this one out.

Over time as our relationship developed, I started to learn more an more about this person who intrigued me.  I started to see how and why she made the choices she did.  You see she was attending church and she seemed really serious about following God.  I had seen movies that she had not because she had made the purposeful choice not to watch some of them.  I knew sayings, read things, had conversations that she simply wouldn't put in her vocabulary, library, and repertoire.  

It wasn't that she was sheltered from the things I had experienced.  At times, I would experience them right next to her.  She wasn't sheltered.  She sheltered her heart.  She simply chose not to store those kinds of things away.  She would not keep them.  She did not want them to become a part of who she is.  She wanted a pure heart.

In place of movies, music, sayings and experiences that would fill our hearts with garbage, she would place movies, music, experiences, and Scripture to keep her heart pure.  She didn't just protect it.  She filled it with those things that would make God smile.  That made me smile...and work toward building a pure heart as well.  The purer my heart becomes, the more I see God.

How about you?

Do you have a pure heart?

What are you doing to make it pure?