The Noble Ones

Nobility of life is much to be desired--but few even seek it; fewer yet ever achieve it. Jesus said, "Wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it" (Mt. 7:13,14 NIV).

Why is this? Why should so many prefer to live their lives at such a low level, rather than seek to elevate it and attain the stature of nobility of life? Taking our cue and clue from Jesus, we see that one reason is the restrictions that such living imposes on those who seek to live a noble life. If one would be noble, that person must be willing to forego some pleasures in life to obtain the deeper pleasures. This is a fact that not all are willing to accept. Many people want no restrictions at all on their lives. They rebel against God and his rules for life:

"'Let us break their chains,' they say, 'and throw off their fetters'" (Ps. 2:3 NIV).

Yet Scripture says this about God's rules for noble living: "His commands are not burdensome" (1 Jn. 5:3 NIV). And Jesus said that he came not to burden us with more laws but to open up to us the way (Jn. 14:6) to that higher, noble life that is found in him alone (Jn. 10:10).

Nevertheless, many fail to see the astonishing offer that God gives to us in his Son and reject his amazing grace to live a noble life that is found in Jesus alone. They see nothing extraordinary or noble in this son of a carpenter. "Isn't this the carpenter's son? . . . And they took offense at him" (Mt. 13:53,57 NIV).

Many take offense at Jesus, that they should look to him for how to live a noble life. Yet there are a few who are willing to submit to Jesus, for they sense something about him that rings true and whispers to their spirit that this is what they have been looking for to lift their lives out of the ordinary into the extraordinary. "Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, 'This is the way; walk in it'" (Is. 30:21).

Jesus' disciples heard him say that he is that way (Jn. 14:6), and they responded as those thirsty to drink of that one way to attain nobility of life. Let others go their own downward way; they would abandon their own heart's selfish desires and follow him on that narrow, hard path.

"On hearing it, many of his disciples said, 'This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?' . . . From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. 'You do not want to leave too, do you?' Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered him, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God" (Jn. 6:60, 66-69 NIV).

Notice that Peter makes reference to Jesus as the Holy One of God. Being holy is a key factor in nobility of life. In fact, Scripture singles it out as the crucial aspect of one's life that determines whether that life is indeed noble or not:

"As for the holy ones in the land, they are the noble, in whom is all my delight (Ps. 16:3 NRSV).

Part of the definition of being noble is the aspect of its separateness from the ordinariness of life. It means to be high in excellence or worth; great; honorable; lofty and superior intellectually and morally. All these descriptions fit Scripture's depiction of God and his Son Jesus Christ. Being noble means being holy--but without the human element of pride in being holy or noble. The only way a sinful human being can attain such a holy and noble life is through the one way God has provided for this, through his Son, Jesus Christ. Once a person accepts this one way, then begins the process of turning the ordinary into the extraordinary, of transforming the mundane into the noble.

"In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purpose, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work" (2 Tim. 2:20,21 NIV).

There is no more noble goal in life than to belong to the Lord Jesus and to seek to do his will in all things and glorify him. The man who follows this plan will be able to stand before God in the final judgment of all mankind, for it is the one noble plan available to man:

"The noble man makes noble plans, and by noble deeds he stands" (Is. 32:8 NIV).

Friend, have you made it your one ambition in life to be noble in God's eyes? The only way this is possible is through the Noble One whom God has sent into this world for that very purpose. I pray that you have surrendered your life and soul to the Lord Jesus and have been united with him into his nobility. If you have done this, then you are numbered among the noble ones in whom is my delight.