A Pure Heart

I am living incognito now.  Most of my hair disappeared during chemo.  Today I went to the barber for some trimming and his suggestion was shaving what was left of my beard.  I thought about that one a minute.  In some ways I feet more attached to the hair on my face than the hair on my head.  Until now I have always had hair on my head.  It has changed colors and gone from thick to thin, but it has remained until now.  On the other hand, my beard has been with me since 1986.  Most folks will not know me.  My face has been invisible a long time, but no more.  All that ugliness I have been hiding is now clearly exposed for all to see.   

It is good to know that God recognizes me and knows me regardless of the amount of hair on my head or face.  He has known me when I had unblemished skin even as He knows me now despite my wrinkled and worn out skin.  My appearance has never affected the way God accepts me and loves me.  I have been reminded through the years that God looks not upon the outward appearance, but the heart.   The Word says, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." (Matthew 5:8).  In another place it says, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me."  (Psalm 51:10). 

There was a time when it seemed that we could make our heart pure by doing what we were supposed to do and not doing what we not supposed to do.  I long ago quit playing that game.  Like the Psalmist David said long ago, a pure heart comes not because of us, but because of God.  When we say "Yes" to Jesus, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in us and to create in us a clean and pure heart.  A pure heart is indeed about a heart that has been given over to the control of the Holy Spirit and His ongoing work of grace in our life.