A Pure Heart

I live in the country and my water comes from a well instead of city water. Whatever is in the well gets pumped to the house—good, bad, and ugly! Even though I have a deep well, there are things in the aquifer that are not optimum for human consumption.

Heavy metals, saltwater intrusion, and bacteria, just to name a few, corrupt the purity of the water. So before the water reaches my tap or shower, it runs through a sophisticated, dual reverse osmosis softening and hyper filtration system that renders it 99.6% pure! In the same way, all of us have a pump inside of us … our heart! This powerful organ, the heart, pumps blood throughout our entire body.

But here is the question of the week—what are we pumping? Like the well on my property, which is susceptible to corruption, so is the human heart.  

“The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” Luke 6:45

Impure thoughts, motives, and intentions corrupt the integrity of our heart; thus, our “wellspring” contains impurities.

Have you ever heard the expression, “There was bad blood between them?” How did the blood become bad? Could it have started with thoughts? “As one thinks in his heart, so he is.” You see, your mind and your heart work together to create purity just like my well pump and filtration system!

 “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10

“With respect to your former lifestyle, you are to lay aside the old self corrupted by its deceitful desires, be renewed in the spirit of your mind.” Ephesians 4:22-23

In other words, a change of heart will positively affect the mind, and a renewed mind will positively affect the heart! What good is a filtration sstem without a well? What good is a well without a filtration system? Is it any wonder that Jesus said: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God?”Matthew 5:8

The Greek word used for “pure” in that passage is katharos. It means to be “clean, blameless, unstained from guilt.” I can honestly tell you that living without guilt, shame, fear, or regret is the life fantastic, a gift more precious than gold.

A pure heart is priceless and well worth any sacrifice needed in order to obtain it. It is my prayer that our nation will have a change of heart. I pray that purity will overcome corruption. I pray especially that those of us who are committed to changing the world would first seek to change ourselves. And the purity of heart we need comes only from God and dependence on Him and not from ourselves. Remember, to the pure, all things are pure; it’s time we take that to heart.