Yesterday we looked at the importance of modesty in adding virtue to our faith. Today we will look at the other part of Strong's definition: purity. Of course modesty and purity go hand in hand.
What does it mean to be pure? And how do we get there? Think about the process of purifying gold. All the IMpurities must be burned out, and I suppose if I were a hunk of gold that would hurt a bit. I imagine it hurt Ruth a bit to be so pure at times. What does a pure Christian look like? I guess that would be Jesus. What about a pure woman Christian? She would act as Jesus would act in her situation, think like He would think, want what He would want, talk like He would talk... Wouldn't it be great to be truly pure? Are you willing to pay the price to get there?
Today's assignment: Share two passages on purity and tell how you think they apply to Ruth.
6 comments:
Hey! I posted yesterday and it's not there!!! Bummer.
And it's not Steph, it's Ann.
I saw your post yesterday. How strange. It was a good one, too. :(
Sorry, I'm posting a day late.
When I think of purity, I always think about water.
"Experts" say there is no such thing as perfectly pure water (or air or soil, etc.) in the world anymore because of all the pollutants, so I'm going to use that as a metaphor for God -- the purest most perfect water that exists somewhere incorruptible.
If we, then are the water here on earth, we know that we can be varied in our purity -- sometimes you can SEE how dirty water is, but sometimes the impurities of water are microscopic so they can't be seen.
When I examine my own purity, I know first of all that when I came to Jesus for redemption, he "filtered" my water and made me pure again. When I sin, I am choosing to add impurities back into myself. Sometimes other people can see those sins, like big flakes of dirt or slime, and sometimes my sins are invisible to others -- but no less dangerous to me (think of bacteria.)
The best way for me to keep my water pure is to continually flush out the bad waters of this world with the clean, pure waters of Christ, just like if I was sick I would flush illness out of my body with lots of water. I was saved through the waters of baptism, the living water of Christ's word will keep renewing my purity daily -- if I drink it daily.
Jeremiah 17:13 "O Lord, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you shall be put to shame;those who turn away from you shall be written in the earth, for they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living water."
John 7:37-38 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”
One of my favorite verses is Phil. 4:8 "Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things."
And, of course, one of the beatitudes Matt 5:8 "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."
I think Ruth was pure in heart when she decided to follow her mother-in-law, away from her own country, people and gods.
Wow, Jennifer. Deep thoughts.
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