ALL NOBLE THINGS ARE DIFFICULT
Enter ye in at the strait gate . . because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way… -Matthew 7:13-14If 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.