Create in Me a Pure Heart

 2 Samuel 11-12; Psalms. 51; Matthew 23 

“Surely you desire truth in the inner parts…Create in me a pure heart, O God…a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”

Psalm 51:6, 10, 17

“Everything they do is done for men to see…You clean the outside of the dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.

Matthew 23:5, 25

God examines the motives of our heart, the reasons why we do things. Religious behavior is particularly effective in impressing others, while keeping our heart hidden. Jesus requires our hearts to be the first place of worship and surrender to his will. Jesus requires truth and purity in our hearts. Recognizing hypocrisy, and repenting for it, should cause brokenness in our heart, a sacrifice that God accepts. Only God can create a pure heart and it requires open heart surgery. Keeping our old selfish, self-indulgence heart, while professing to worship God, is unacceptable. God desires transformation in our lives beginning in our heart (motives) and radiating from there to all that we are.

“Lord God, I offer my heart to you as a sanctuary of worship and sacrifice to you. I humble myself before you and choose truth.”