Purity
Purity
Kept Pure
A woman from Berne, Switzerland, tells us this story of her country's flower, the edelweiss. The very name of this plant is a story in itself. Edelweiss is a compound word which in the German means "noble and white." It is a small perennial herb of the aster family whose pure white blossom must be sought after, since it nestles in the highest snowy crags of the Alps. It is so absolutely white that it blends perfectly with its environment, losing its identifying characteristics completely in its surroundings. Even when picked and pressed in paper for preservation, it remains free from discoloration for many years. If we would be like the edelweiss, we must keep ourselves pure and noble, striving to attain the heights with God. Then, as He keeps us pure in heart and motive, He will enable us to accept with humility the loss of our own status in the scope of His larger landscape. A Pure Heart
A girl in Sunday school had read the Beatitudes in Matthew. She was asked which of the things mentioned she would most like to have. She said, "A pure heart." When asked why she preferred that, she said, "If my heart were pure, I believe I would have all the other virtues mentioned in this chapter." The Healthy Eye
What our Savior wanted to teach by the analogy of the eye and the lamp is that everything we see depends on the condition of the lamp. If the lamp is dim, we won't see very clearly. If our eye is dim, diseased, the whole body will be darkened. Similarly, if the lamp is burning brightly, we see things as they are. We recognize the books upon the table and the photographs upon the wall. But if the lamp is flickering or smoky, everything is distorted or obscured; so it is with the eye. If we are color-blind, we cannot see the glorious redness of the rose. If we are nearsighted, we cannot see the friend who is signaling to us from a little distance. If we suffer from impending cataracts, we cannot clearly distinguish a friend sitting next to us. Still, the rose is red, though we cannot see it in our color blindness. Still, the friend is waving to us or seated by our side. There is nothing the matter with reality. The trouble is that we are seeing badly. Now the Lord tells us that the eye can be either single (healthy), or it can be evil. As the eye brings good or evil impressions to the body so the heart of man is that organ by which the spiritual self is enlightened. The heart can be single or evil.