Open My Eyes Lord

“God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God.”  Matthew 5:8 NLT

I remember learning a song in elementary school.  The lyrics went something like this: “Open my eyes, Lord, I want to see Jesus, to reach out and touch Him, and say that I love Him….”  This is one of those songs that when it’s in my head, it doesn’t leave.  I suppose that’s a good thing, but at the same time, it’s convicting.  I like to think I see God in my daily life-my needs being provided, my wonderful family, and some of my wants being pacified.  However, these can also be blinding.  I get distracted sometimes by the blessings in my life, which takes my focus off of God. 

I don’t feel like my thankfulness for these blessings is always coming from the purest heart.  Sometimes I adopt the “I’m so glad that didn’t happen to me” attitude when I see others in crisis or having a rough time.  That’s selfish.  I have open eyes to ME and how great MY circumstance are, instead of having them open to GOD and how He would use me for the benefit of others. 

I want to be an imitator of Christ, and to do so I need to see Him.  In this beatitude from Matthew, Jesus is nicely commanding us to be pure in heart, and we will see God.  He wants to have that intimate relationship with us as His children, but to do so we need to cleanse our hearts and as John 3:30 says, “He must become greater and greater, and I must become lesser and lesser.”  Jesus wants to be face to face, heart to heart with us-and we need His help in purifying our hearts and focusing on Him.

Father God,  take my distractions away.  Open my eyes and purify my heart, so I can be a greater witness for you.  Thank you for my blessings, and help me use them in a pure, unselfish way.  Lord, you are great.  Forgive me for not recognizing your greatness.  Take the focus off of me, and give me opportunities to preach that you are Lord.  Amen.