Chambers talked about the Beatitudes yesterday and I spent some time just thinking about being pure of heart and what that might mean. Then today he comes back with more of the same with a different twist.
He uses Matthew 15:18-19 for his text, and that talks about the detestable things that come out of our hearts: evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.
Then he writes: "We begin by trusting our ignorance and calling it innocence, by trusting our innocence and calling it purity; and when we hear these rugged statements of Our Lord's, we shrink and say - But I never felt any of those awful things in my heart. We resent what Jesus Christ reveals. Either Jesus Christ is the supreme Authority on the human heart, or He is not worth paying any attention to. Am I prepared to trust His penetration, or do I prefer to trust my innocent ignorance?"
If I go deep down, I know what my heart is capable of, but I would rather trust my innocent ignorance. I like that phrase, it has a certain ring to it, that if I am not aware of the truth, it will not have any call on my living.
I say I am not so bad, really. If I use the right person as my example, I can even look pretty good. But Jesus is not into comparisons among ourselves, He says that no one is exempt from this heart condition.
There is only one way out of this ignorance and that is through redemption and the Holy Spirit's indwelling presence. Only through an acceptance of what Jesus tells me about my heart, can it be transformed.
It is easy to say that I want to trust Jesus' penetrating truth, but I know that my innocent ignorance is sure tempting.
Help today begins with a capital H.
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