The popular righteous - a vanishing breed.

The details of tabernacle, and the triumphal entry of Jesus. Two things from my Bible reading this morning. One reassures us that God takes worship very seriously, and the other shows us that a whole town coming out to cheer and celebrate your life can turn on you in just a few days.

Food for thought - if I am the most popular person one minute, and the most despised the next, what am I? OK - most would say, "parent of a teenager." And you would not be wrong. But I can also be a Christian, giving his testimony. Even LIVING his testimony. I know Christ Jesus was the hope of the nation, they so badly wanted him to overthrow the Roman government, but that was not His plan. He came to give us all the strength, courage and power to live Godly lives in the midst of whatever the people around us can throw at us.

And we all know that there are times when standing up for what is right ruins our popularity. But right is right, righteous is righteous, and wrong is something to be avoided. Even if it costs. And it will. But I have known a few rare people who could stand up to the pressure of the world - and let's face it: the world will put pressure on us to give up our righteousness daily - and live righteous lives. And yet they remained popular. No, they didn't just buddy up with other righteous folks. They had plenty of those friends, yes, but they also were inviting to the worldly folks around them. And as such, they were living examples of right living before a lost and dying world. Darn few though.

I hope some day to be one of them. And no, don't try to tell me that it can't happen, or that it involves compromise. Some of the most amazing people never compromised on right and wrong, God or the world, righteous or profane. It is a choice which is so deep down and basic that it becomes a way of living, more than just a way of making choices or decisions.

LORD - I want to be your ambassador to this world. I know that means I may have to give up some things, and I know that fitting in to the world is at the top of that list of things. But shine through me Jesus: you are inviting, let enough of you show through me that I will be inviting too.