The Noble Calling

The Noble Calling

I like the word noble. It means dignity, lofty, superior, worthy, greatness--of mind, spirit, and being. It means that there is a lower level above which it is possible to rise.

Anyone can give in to the lowest common denominator of human baseness; that is nothing of which to boast. But to be noble in the midst of the mass of mediocrity and baseness--that is not easy at all and, in fact, requires resolve, commitment, and an inner vision, spirit, and strength that few possess or even desire or pursue. But as God told Cain, we are indeed to strive for it and to rise above the base human instincts that would keep us from achieving this godlike quality:

"If you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door. It desires to have you, but you must master it" (Gen. 4:7).

All that is required for a person to fail to achieve this higher level of noble living and to sink into the animal-like basic instincts is to do nothing. As statesman Edmund Burke has noted, all that is required for evil to win is for good men to do nothing. As the verse quoted above implies, it takes effort to do this; nobility of living is not achieved effortlessly. The word master indicates this, that there is a requirement and work necessary to achieve this goal. If we do not make this effort, which effort is right and commanded of us in this verse as well, sin is ready to pounce upon us as well, for its own basic desire and nature is to own every person. Therefore, we must fight it and master it. Only then will we be able to become like our Master: noble.

The godly of the land are the true nobility (Ps. 101:6), for only those who belong to God and seek his power to change them are able, by that grace from God, to become noble like him. For that is what the word means, to be of superior worth and above all that is base and ordinary. To be truly noble is to be like God. And those who belong to Christ are noble because "we are like Christ here in this world" (1 Jn. 4:17 NLT). And Christ is the true noble person.

None of this is meant to sanction pride, however. There are pretenders to nobility just as their are pretenders to everything else that is good in life and this world. But such falsehood and deception eventually is unmasked; the true person and character comes out in the end and is exposed. The one who is truly noble is anxious to give God the credit for making him so. That person says with Paul:

"I don't mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection! But I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ Jesus saved me for and wants me to be. No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven" (Ph. 3:12-14 NLT).

Being noble is a calling. It is the calling of all who belong to the One who is noble, Jesus Christ. How are you doing in your life in accepting and achieving this high calling? If there are any deficiencies, do not despair but look always to him who is making you like himself through the power of his Holy Spirit:

"And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him and reflect his glory even more" (2 Cor. 3:18 NLT).

May all who read this allow the Spirit to make them noble.