See God!

Pretty early in our marriage, Mr. Bill and I participated in a silent auction and won a genuine brass bed!  How pretty it was when finally set up in our new house several years later.  It just might have been the shiniest thing in the house!  Mr. Hard-to-Impress could have cared less, but I was impressed!

 Jesus said only the “pure in heart” will see God (Matthew 5:8).  My first thought is “I’m doomed!”   You know, of course, there’s more to that brass bed story – it didn’t shine on its own!  In storage for several years, the shine came at great effort: every inch of every piece was tarnished and needed to be polished.  Of course, that could have been what didn’t "impress" Mr. Bill!  Godly purity doesn’t just happen either – we must grow into it.  Romans 3:23 tells us emphatically that sin has tarnished us all (“all have sinned and come short of the glory of God”), causing us to miss seeing (knowing) God as He would have us to know Him. We soon learned the oil from every finger that touched the brass started a tarnishing process; in much the same way, hearts exposes to ungodliness hinders growth toward spiritual purity.  If we want genuine and sweet fellowship with Christ, it means saying "no" to certain patterns of behavior.  Few things shine more than polished brass, and absolutely nothing shines brighter than Jesus in a person who seeks Him with a "whole heart" (Psalm 119:2).  I encourage you to avoid the tarnish cycle and grow in purity.  Seek personal purity - See God!