To Will One Thing

November 29, 2006

Joe,

As you know, I preached this past Sunday on Jesus’ words, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” What a rich promise this is, and how important it becomes then to know what is the purity of heart which Jesus says is prerequisite to seeing Him in glory.

In the words of Kent Hughes, it means “a heart that does not bring mixed motives and divided loyalties to its relationship with God. It is a heart of singleness in devotion to God – pure, unmixed devotion.” That means you do not use God to get something else that you really want. God is not first and foremost precious because He gives us the things we really want, like spouses and children and houses and cars; He is precious for who He is, and we approach Him and worship Him for that reason alone. Even if He should strip us of all our earthly goods, the one who is pure in heart still has cause to rejoice so long as he has God.

19^th century philosopher and theologian Soren Kierkegaard wrote a book called ‘Purity of heart is to Will One Thing’. When that ‘one thing’ is loving and delighting in Jesus Christ above all else, then we have pure hearts. I think that is what Jesus is talking about when He says, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matt. 22:37). The greatest commandment is to be pure-hearted in your love for God. Love Him not with part of your heart. That would be impurity.

The same purity is described in Psalm 27:4, “One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.“ The pure in heart are the ones who pursue God with unmixed, single-minded, whole-hearted devotion. Those are the ones who will see God.

That is why Seek Him Ministries exists, does it not? To see the hearts of people become so ravished with the riches of Christ’s glory that He is the ‘One Thing’ that we want, and all else is rubbish compared to the surpassing worth of knowing Him. But we will not spread that passion brother, if it does not grip us!

Let us be people who will one thing!

“17Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, 18yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.” (Habakkuk 3:17-18)

Larry

Posted by Larry | Filed Under Scripture Meditation