NOBLER THINGS

“When you are chasing lots of chicken at the same time, you will end up catching none.”

Igbo language proverb.

Growing up, neatly cleaned and packaged chicken was not sold in supermarkets. Chicken was a rare treat, reserved strictly for special occasions, usually Easter and Christmas. During those celebrations, we would buy live chicken and transform them into tasty meat completely from scratch. It was a tedious process, from preparing the bird to patiently plucking every single feather, one by one, before it finally made its way to our plates.

Some people had the luxury of rearing their chicken from infancy to maturity. So, all they had to do was to go out and catch the chosen one from the lot. This was not always easy, as all the chicken in the group would be running in different directions. To secure the meal, you had to lock in on a single target and pursue it without distraction. Running around the yard with all the chicken could be fun, but that was not the objective at that time. The objective was always to catch one that was destined for the pot.

We will always have the dilemma of choosing between noble and nobler things. There will always be many good things that we cannot do. If we try to do everything, we will drop the ball on many fronts and not reach our full potential in any of them. When faced with those choices, divine purpose should guide our selection of the path to follow.

In Acts 6: 2- 4, the apostles had to choose between ensuring that they were the ones sharing food to maintain fairness and devoting themselves to their primary purpose. Serving food to the congregation was a good thing, but it was not what God wanted them to do.

So the Twelve called a meeting of all the believers. They said, “We apostles should spend our time teaching the word of God, not running a food program.  And so, brothers, select seven men who are well respected and are full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will give them this responsibility.  Then we apostles can spend our time in prayer and teaching the word.”

Also, when Jesus visited Mary and Martha, there was nothing wrong with Mary joining Martha to prepare refreshments for the Master. She instead chose to listen to the teaching of Jesus with apt concentration. She walked through the nobler path.

The Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha! You worry and fuss about a lot of things.  There’s only one thing you need [worth worrying about]. Mary has made the right choice, and that one thing will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:41 – 42 [GWT]

Most of the distractions that come our way will be good things; we need to know who we are and where we are going. This will help us to draw a line between noble and nobler things and take the path that will lead to the fulfilment of purpose. Paul wanted to preach in the region of Asia, but God had other plans and did not let him go there. Preaching the gospel is definitely a good thing, but in this case, God had other people in mind as the recipients of the message, and Paul had to line up behind God’s plan and purpose.

And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden of the Holy Ghost to speak the word in Asia; and when they were come over against Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia; and the Spirit of Jesus suffered them not; and passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There was a man of Macedonia standing, beseeching him, and saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us. And when he had seen the vision, straightway we sought to go forth into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us for to preach the gospel unto them Acts 16: 6 – 10 [ERV]

Once we take this path and skip other good things, we need to rid ourselves of the guilt of not doing those other good things. This is however not a call to recklessness and abandoning our basic responsibilities, while claiming that we are waiting for God to show is the nobler path. It is a call to increase our diligence, focus and faithfulness in fulfilling our purpose because it is in doing the nobler things that we can begin to achieve this. May the grace of God abound to us to identify and choose to do the nobler things.