August 17 - Cornerstone Character

Cornerstone Character

"Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God." Matthew 5:11

Chuck Colson, in his book, Loving God, spoke about a cornerstone characteristic that sets Christians apart in their growth when he writes: "Christianity is not just a high-sounding ritual which we perform on Sundays. Christianity is abiding by Biblical standards of personal holiness and in turn seeking to bring holiness into the society in which we live."  The unyielding passion to maintain purity of the heart, only through Christ, establishes an indispensable foundation for a faithful life in Christ.

Naturalists tell us about an animal in Minnesota called an ermine. An ermine is a short-tailed weasel with the unique ability to change its dark brown fur to a snow-white in the winter. God created this animal with this feature to protect it from others. The ermine instinctively protects his white coat against anything that would soil it. Fur hunters try to take advantage of this unusual trait. Thus they don’t set a snare to catch them, but instead they find their home, usually a cleft in a rock or a hollow tree, and they smear the entrance with grime. Then the hunters set their dogs loose to chase the ermine. The frightened animal flees toward home but refuses to enter because of the filth. Rather than soil his white coat, the ermine is trapped by the dogs and captured while preserving his purity.
For the ermine, purity is more precious than life.

The ermine gives us a commendable picture in nature of an animal that refuses to soil its coat on the outside at the risk of its own life.  However, do we have the same resolve to refuse to pollute what is on the inside…our hearts?  Jesus shared that sometimes we try to appear one way on the surface when the true problem lies far below it.  And we attempt artificial ways to resolve it.

Max Lucado tells us, “Who would concentrate on the outside when the problem is on the inside? Really want to know? A housewife battles with depression. What is the solution offered by a close friend? Buy a new dress, get a job. A husband is involved in an affair that brings him as much guilt as it does adventure. The solution? Change peer groups. Hang out with people who don’t make you feel guilty! A person is plagued by insecurity and restlessness. The answer?  A hunting trip, or a vacation, or maybe a change of style. A new look, a new car, flash some cash. That will give you the lift you need. Case after case of treating the outside while ignoring the inside. And the result? Oh, the depression, the guilt, the insecurity, leaves for maybe a day, maybe a week. But it always returns, and usually it’s worse. The outside is altered the inside has faltered. The real and lasting answer? True happiness comes from the inside out.”

The great preacher, Charles Spurgeon, added that “The man, whose heart is pure, will be able to see God in nature. When the heart is clean, he will hear God's footfall everywhere in the garden of the earth in the cool of the day. He will hear God's voice in the tempest, sounding in peal on peal from the tops of the mountains. He will behold the Lord walking on the great and mighty waters, or see Him in every leaf that trembles in the breeze. Once man gets the heart right,  then God can be seen everywhere. To an impure heart, God cannot be seen anywhere; but to a pure heart, God is to be seen everywhere.” Isn’t that worth striving for?”

After a violent storm one night, a large tree, which over the years had become a stately giant, was found lying across the pathway in a park. Nothing but a splintered stump was left. Closer examination showed that it was rotten at the core because thousands of tiny insects had eaten away at its heart. The weakness of that tree was not brought on by the sudden storm; it began the very moment the first insect nested within its bark. With the Holy Spirit’s help, let’s be very careful to guard our purity. The question of mankind has always been the same – what do I have to do for my heart to be right with God? It’s human nature to feel that we must do some type of work or deed to earn God’s pleasure.

It’s all about the inside, not the outside. Jesus said this to the religionists of His day who looked pure on the outside, but were rotten on the inside. (Matthew 23:25-28 NIV) "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness." Jesus made the point apparently clear.  The inside can’t be clean by what’s done on the outside. Why? Because: "Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God."

D. James Kennedy once said, “Most people miss heaven by 12 inches…the distance from the head to the heart.”  However, most Christian’s miss true life in the same measure.  We must strive to know Christ and strive to allow Christ to change us.  It’s the cornerstone of a full life in Him.

Terry Risser

Reflections:

1)  What lesson do you take from the ermine?

2)  How intent are you in keeping your heart pure?

Consider reading the Word today:

 

Copyright 2014- Terry Risser