Just this past weekend I was told, yet again, how special and patient a person I must be to be able to work with people with developmental disabilities. It is because of my field of work that I sometimes receive such praise and admiration. My compassion, patience, and love is often judged or perceived to be greater than those who say: “I could never do what you do.” They see me as a ‘good’ person because of my job . . . . . But if they only knew!
Making assumptions about a person’s ‘goodness’ based on what we see is like judging the size and shape of iceberg below the water based on what we see above the water. It was once suggested to me that you could know it’s safe to approach a strange dog by the waging of its tail. Don’t believe it! I learned that the hard. If you’ve ever looked at buying a used car you know that even the expert mechanic you bring along can’t tell for sure whether the car will be a good purchase. Going only by what they see, they too can only give their best guess.
A little later in Matthew Jesus would rebuke the Pharisees for their striving to look pure on the outside while remaining impure on the inside. He said to them “So you also appear righteous to men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity” (Matt. 23:28). We should be careful not to equate a humanitarian’s works with a humanitarian’s heart. In other words, ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’, or rather not at all.
Matthew 5:8, “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God,” is meant, as the other beatitudes are, to provoke introspection of one’s own heart. The matter of the heart has always been at the heart of the matter. Listen to Moses’ words to Israel about the heart:
Now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require from you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the LORD'S commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good . . . So circumcise your heart, and stiffen your neck no longer
- Deuteronomy 10:12-16
A pure heart involves a heart directed unreservedly toward God in fear, in walk, in love, and in service. Yet God, knowing the shortcomings of all human hearts did the circumcising of our hearts for us, which we receive through faith in Jesus. He had promised it to Israel this way:
And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul that you may live.
- Deuteronomy 30:6
Being employed in a field of work considered to be humanitarian, even at great sacrifice, does not indicate the involvement of a ‘pure heart’. Fear of God however does. As does walking in God’s ways, loving Him, and serving Him. These are the indicators we can use to judge for ourselves whether we have a ‘pure heart’ and will see God.
My 1.5 cents,
Jamie Hussain
Making assumptions about a person’s ‘goodness’ based on what we see is like judging the size and shape of iceberg below the water based on what we see above the water. It was once suggested to me that you could know it’s safe to approach a strange dog by the waging of its tail. Don’t believe it! I learned that the hard. If you’ve ever looked at buying a used car you know that even the expert mechanic you bring along can’t tell for sure whether the car will be a good purchase. Going only by what they see, they too can only give their best guess.
A little later in Matthew Jesus would rebuke the Pharisees for their striving to look pure on the outside while remaining impure on the inside. He said to them “So you also appear righteous to men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity” (Matt. 23:28). We should be careful not to equate a humanitarian’s works with a humanitarian’s heart. In other words, ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’, or rather not at all.
Matthew 5:8, “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God,” is meant, as the other beatitudes are, to provoke introspection of one’s own heart. The matter of the heart has always been at the heart of the matter. Listen to Moses’ words to Israel about the heart:
Now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require from you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the LORD'S commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good . . . So circumcise your heart, and stiffen your neck no longer
- Deuteronomy 10:12-16
A pure heart involves a heart directed unreservedly toward God in fear, in walk, in love, and in service. Yet God, knowing the shortcomings of all human hearts did the circumcising of our hearts for us, which we receive through faith in Jesus. He had promised it to Israel this way:
And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul that you may live.
- Deuteronomy 30:6
Being employed in a field of work considered to be humanitarian, even at great sacrifice, does not indicate the involvement of a ‘pure heart’. Fear of God however does. As does walking in God’s ways, loving Him, and serving Him. These are the indicators we can use to judge for ourselves whether we have a ‘pure heart’ and will see God.
My 1.5 cents,
Jamie Hussain
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