…Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. (Matthew 5:8)
How can I be pure hearted when I have unclean attitudes every day? I desperately want to see God, as Jesus said, so I have to know what it means to be pure hearted.
We picked our way through the mud toward a palm thatched hovel. A six-year-old mute girl in a yellow dress shot out from the curtained doorway. She ran past the Nigerian Bible college student leading me, and threw her arms around my legs. In the villages, my white face normally frightened children who’d never seen a Caucasian, but this precious girl clung with uninhibited love.
Who was pure hearted that day? Not the girl’s mother who was in the hut practicing witchcraft. The neighbors only mocked the child’s enthusiasm. The Bible college students tried to pull her away from their missionary. Instead of swooping her up and saying, “Don’t try to stop her, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these,” I stiffened, and set the girl aside. None of us adults were pure hearted.
The six-year-old wasn’t troubled by what others thought of her. She didn’t concern herself with pride in her stature. She only wanted love and protection, and that made her pure, ready to see God.
It’s been fifteen years since I encountered the pure hearted girl. But whenever I need a reminder of what God expects from me, I close my eyes and see the yellow dress. I remember the squeeze of love at my knees, and I know that pure hearted isn’t complicated. It’s just loving others with arms open wide.
Prayer: Jesus, give me pure love for others.