KykNET Lent Guide 2023Sample

Week 5: Purity

Day 5: Pure of Heart

“You’re blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.” Matt 5:8 (MSG)

“You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in You.” - St. Augustine

There are two convictions the early church had concerning desires. The first conviction is that God placed a deep desire for Him within each of us. The other conviction is that these desires are buried and that we often don’t recognise them. When we reach this desire, it can order our other desires.

We have a stake in this – in the finding and recognition of this desire. This is what the purification of our hearts comes down to. Kierkegaard said: ”To be pure of heart is to will only one thing.” When I make contact with my deep desire for God and begin to live with the intention to set Him above all else, that intention purifies my heart. It is not something I can do on my own. Only He can do it, but He doesn’t do it without me (Psalms 51:12). We do it with Him (James 4:8).

In this week’s Scripture, Jesus meets His disciples where they are. They don’t know what they really want, but they tell Him what they think they want. He goes into a discussion with them. Eventually, He asks them to follow Him. They react to the invitation. They came into contact with their deepest desire and now recognise it.

It is the only way for us to be happy. Blessed are the pure of heart. Purity equals happiness. It is a great thing to believe in the world we live in. It determines your dreams, it determines what you long for in life, the energy you live with is determined by your dreams and that determines your decisions.

Exercise:

Share with Him where you are on your journey with Him.

Repetition Prayer:

Create in me a pure heart, oh God.