Noble Things

Enter ye in at the strait gate...because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way... ~Matthew 7:13-14

If we are going to live as disciples of Jesus, we have to remember that all noble things are difficult. The Christian life is gloriously difficult, but the difficulty of it does not make us faint and cave in, it rouses us up to overcome. Do we so appreciate the marvellous salvation of Jesus Christ that we are our utmost for His highest?

God saves men by His sovereign grace through the Atonement of Jesus; He works in us to will and to do of His good pleasure; but we have to work out that salvation in practical living. If once we start on the basis of His Redemption to do what He commands, we find that we can do it. If we fail, it is because we have not practised. The crisis will reveal whether we have been practising or not. If we obey the Spirit of God and practise in our physical life what God has put in us by His Spirit, then when the crisis comes, we shall find that our own nature as well as the grace of God will stand by us.

Thank God He does give us difficult things to do! His salvation is a glad thing, but it is also a heroic, holy thing. It tests us for all we are worth. Jesus is bringing many "sons" unto glory, and God will not shield us from the requirements of a son. God's grace turns out men and women with a strong family likeness to Jesus Christ, not milk sops. It takes a tremendous amount of discipline to live the noble life of a disciple of Jesus in actual things. It is always necessary to make an effort to be noble.

"All Noble Things are Difficult" from My Utmost for My Highest by Oswald Chambers

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Ave Maria!  Googling for an image is an adventure of sorts.  I never know what to expect.  Whatever the search results, I am invariably moved, inspired, enlightened, amused, stretched, and, yes, sometimes revolted because, as we all too sadly know, filth creeps in anywhere and everywhere, even among the good, innocent, beautiful and noble.

Today's find of the above cartoon sure did tickle my funny bone.  It also made me think about what I need to get rid of before I can fit through that narrow gate:  my many sins, faults, and bad habits, whether large or small -- all those "dear imperfections" as St. Francis de Sales calls them.  We can always count on them being there, he assures us, for "Our imperfections will accompany us to the grave."  How dear they are because they make us totally dependent upon our loving Father, whose goodness and mercy endure forever! As I continue to do everything possible "to live the noble life of a disciple of Jesus in actual things," I find strength and joy in my true nobility -- being my Father's child, happily confident of His love so graciously given to us in His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Father, I adore You,

lay my life before You,

how I love You!*

*With special thanks to my sweet Annie, who taught me this lovely hymn so many years ago!  I sing it every morning when I enter our beautiful Adoration chapel in my parish, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton.