Tuesday, July 23rd, 2024
I was in prayer this morning but markedly distracted by the turmoil going on with the political scene in the United States. It’s dominating the news and the hearts of Americans. It’s heating up and only going to get hotter.
I was having a hard time concentrating until the Holy Spirit put the sixth beatitude of the Sermon on the Mount into my mind.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
As I meditated on this, I realized the pure in heart don’t focus on politics as a dominating thought. They focus on Jesus. I believe that’s what Jesus meant with this beatitude. “Look to Me first. Put Me first in your heart. Don’t be distracted by all the noise in the world; all that will pass away, but I will not pass away.”
That’s not to say we should totally ignore politics. After all, it’s a part of our lives that should interest us – to a degree. But we should see it through the pure lens of Jesus’ heart. When I look to Him, I can almost see tears in His eyes as he beholds the anger, rancor, hatred, and hostility that has become a part of politics. Scripture says we should be imitators of Christ. There’s an awful lot of unChristlike behavior going on in the political realm. May it not be so for you or for me.