Onward journey of purification!

Mt.5:8, “Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God.”

Jesus preached saying that only those who are pure in heart shall see God. Our hearts, being vulnerable to all sorts of wickedness is also the source of purification. A pure heart is followed by clean actions and words. We were born again by the Word of God, which by the power of His Spirit convicted our hearts of our sinfulness. We then realized the need to be saved and were lead to Christ, to believe Him and accept Him as our savior and our Lord. But this is only the beginning of a purification process, which lasts till the end of this journey. It’s a continuous and ongoing process.

Today, when many are focusing on just the miracles, let us realise that purification of a heart is the biggest miracle. For it is impossible for anything or anyone other than God to purify a heart. Many have a feeling of being purified by visiting certain places or doing certain customs. But only the Lord God who sees our innermost desires, intentions and thoughts can convict us of our sinfulness. And only He can enable us to be purified by the power of His Word, His Spirit and His blood.

Is.6:5, “So I said: “Woe is me, for I am ^[a]undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The Lord of hosts.” Isaiah saw the vision of the Lord sitting on a high and lifted up throne. He saw angels crying out, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts….” Soon, the prophet was convicted and found himself crying out saying, “Woe is me, for I am undone; for I am a man of unclean lips.” The prophet who prophesied, who spoke the words of God to the people was convicted of unclean lips. He was a man of God for the people around, but yet the Lord saw him with the unclean lips.

It’s easy to assume that we are clean enough, unless we draw closer and closer to Him. Isaiah drew closer to the Lord and the Lord revealed more of Himself to the prophet. As He reveals more of Himself to us, more of ourselves is revealed to our own eyes. If one feels that one is purified enough, it’s time to draw one more step closer to the Lord.

One of the seraphim touched the mouth of the prophet with a live coal taken from the altar with tongs. The Lord purified prophet’s mouth. Only the Lord can purify us. None of man’s tradition or customs or vain feelings can do this. Let us approach Him alone for purification.

Is.6:8, “Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.” As soon as the prophet’s sin was purged and his iniquity taken away, he heard the Lord saying “whom shall I send?’ At times, when one feels as to why one is unable to hear His voice specifically, let him or her focus on deeper purification, which takes away all the obstacles that block one’s inner ear from hearing His still small voice. Is.59:1-2, “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, That it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, That it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.

 Lk.19:8, “Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.”  Zacchaeus was a tax collector. In those days, tax collectors were looked at with contempt for they were hard hearted and were known for snatching away the money from even the needy ones. Zacchaeus sought to see Jesus and Jesus chose to go to Zacchaeus house. They walked together to his house. We don’t read of Jesus preaching to him here. But Zacchaeus was convicted of his sins and confessed to the Lord that he would give half of his goods to the poor and four fold to those accused falsely. The very presence of Jesus enabled the tax collector to see his own life clearly with a discerning heart.

The constant realization that we are being watched by unseen eyes and heard by unseen ears of the One enthroned on the divine throne helps us to feel His constant presence. This stops us from doing wrong and convicts us of our smallest of hidden sins very promptly.

Lk.5:8, “When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!”” Peter was out in the sea all night trying to catch fish, but caught none. The Lord saw the empty boat of Peter and used it to preach the Word. Peter listened the Word. Later when Jesus asked him to cast his net into the deep waters, though Peter hesitated a bit, yet willingly cast the net. For he had sensed the divine power in the Words of Christ when He preached. In spite of the past failures, he was now again willing to cast the net. This time, “At His Word”.  He could have easily refused for he had already made all the efforts he could. His experience as a fisherman had not given any hope. But the power in the Words of Christ gave him hope. Soon he witnessed the great miracle of multitude of fish. And the response of Peter is amazing. Instead of literally falling on the great catch with excitement, he fell down at the feet of Jesus saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!”

Peter could have easily walked away with a fortune and could just tell Jesus, “Thank you so much Lord” to show his gratitude. But here the true purpose of miracles have been exposed. Miracles and blessings are not just meant to be grabbed and tell the Lord how much we are thankful for the same. They are done by the heaven to expose our sins. They make one realize one’s unworthiness to experience the blessings of the Lord. Peter realized it. So instead of chasing the great catch, he left it and started following Christ who had come to purify his heart through His Word.

The Word of God purifies us. It’s important to be disciplined regarding reading and meditating His Word on a daily basis, so that we can grow in purification on a daily basis. As we do so, miracles and blessings follows us and also guides us into deeper purification.

Purification is a daily, continuous and ongoing process. It’s important to check on our lives as to how far we have grown in this factor. As Isaiah, let us draw closer to Him. As Zacchaeus, let us realize His presence in our lives and as Peter, let us heed to His Word and realise the purpose of the miracles and blessings.

GOD bless us all.