Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. (Acts 17:11 ESV)
Nobility
I have some noble blood. My great-great great-great-great grandfather was Sir Royal Graham. I am unsure of how many people are ahead of me in a claim to the throne of Scotland, but there is an actual number. You might be jealous. (Unless your number is less than mine…) Because that kind of nobility is unobtainable. You either have it, or your do not.
But the Bereans in the book of Acts are called noble for a different reason. They are noble because of something that they did, not merely because of the blood in their veins.
They loved the Word of God.
This is a more noble kind of nobility. Because God’s Word is more important than throne inheritance. And because a love of God’s Word is something we can actually choose to have. We can not choose our blood. But we can choose to be like the Bereans.
We are peculiar, we can be noble.