Pure In Heart Shall See God

he Greek word for heart is KARDIA. It does not always refer to the physical organ that we call the heart. The Greek word for heart sometimes referred to the seat of life, the seat of our feelings, desires and passions. It was also the seat of thought and understanding as well as the seat of the will. The heart was the real person: emotions, will and intelligence.

Emotions. Some of the best verses in the Bible that show the heart included the emotions are as follows:

Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and gladness of heart, for the abundance of everything. (NKJV) Deuteronomy 28:47

My son, be wise, and make my heart glad, That I may answer him who reproaches me. (NKJV) Proverbs 27:11

Say to those who are fearful-hearted, “Be strong, do not fear! (NKJV) Isaiah 35:4

Nevertheless He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness. (NKJV) Acts 14:17

INTELLECT. The heart also included the mind in Jewish and Greek thought. This is obvious in:

So Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him, and Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then I will kill my brother Jacob.” (NKJV) Genesis 27:41

And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts . . . (NKJV) Mark 2:6

A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to evil . . . (NKJV) Proverbs 6:18

At that time Jerusalem shall be called The Throne of the LORD, and all the nations shall be gathered to it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem. No more shall they follow the dictates of their evil hearts. (NKJV) Jeremiah 3:17

But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. (NKJV) Daniel 1:8

Conclusion. So when Jesus talks about a pure heart, he is talking about a pure life. Pure actions, a pure thought life and pure emotions. What a joy to know that our sinful emotions, will and thoughts are forgotten by God. Forgotten as far as the east is from the west. Jesus considers us to have pure emotions, a pure will and pure thoughts. What a joy!