Purity Part 1

God finds great delight in those who refuse to be covered in the dirt and filth of this world and have determined to live set apart, godly lives in the midst of a perverse generation.  He searches for those whose hearts are exclusively committed to him and the furthering of his Kingdom: he takes great pleasure in the purity of their heart, he savors their worship and loves to bless them (Psalm 24:4-5); for he knows that through them his life can flow untainted into the dying world all around; he knows that they can be trusted with the burdens of his heart; he knows that they will remain set apart, forsaking the world and its wisdom and presenting their bodies as holy sacrifices unto God (Romans 12:1).  God is jealous for the pure in heart.

Nevertheless, though he desires purity - total separation from the world and its systems, and total abandon to God and his wisdom - above all else, the workers, the harvesters, remain few.  For purity is no longer something that is desired by God’s people - desired enough to be pursued at the cost of their lives, anyway. The church has become like the harlot to whom Israel is so often compared in the Old Testament: we have ignored this New Covenant that God has made with us and have chased after worldly pleasures.  


Where are the men of God?  Where are those who would rather lose their life than be stained with sin?  They are trapped within a cage created by their own self-indulgences.  All that remains is a shadow of what was - sin has destroyed everything else that had any worth.