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Day 269, or September the 26th. Don't let pride

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get in the way. Our thoughts today come from

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Zechariah chapter 9, verse 9. Rejoice greatly,

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daughter of Zion! Shout, daughter of Jerusalem!

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See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious,

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lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the

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foal of a donkey. Now the big picture surrounding

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this verse. Zechariah is so convicted and saddened

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by the way his fellow Jews are rejecting his

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words, and thereby rejecting his God, who has

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given Zechariah the job of taking God's word

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to the people. He gives us that great verse which

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is quoted in Matthew's Gospel, as Matthew describes

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Jesus coming into the city of Jerusalem on a

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donkey. The cry, Hosanna, meaning, set us free,

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resounds for all to hear. And now today's action

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step. Today we have a clear prophecy that is

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fulfilled when Jesus enters Jerusalem, on what

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we now call Palm Sunday, at the beginning of

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the week that will end with his death on the

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cross at Calvary. It's hard to imagine how it

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would feel to be going towards an horrific death,

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which you don't deserve, and which you could

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avoid simply by calling for help from your Father

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in Heaven. On top of this, Jesus enters on the

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back of a donkey's colt. It is impossible to

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remain dignified and ride like this. In our sophisticated

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21st century society, to remain dignified is

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very important, so much so that we are often

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tempted to take extraordinary actions rather

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than have our ego dented. This can be especially

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true for those of us who may be involved in public

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ministry or have a leadership role in a local

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church. Please refuse to believe your own publicity.

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Would you be just as happy to turn up at church

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next Sunday and find you were not required and

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could sit in the pew and worship with the rest

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of the congregation? If you hesitated before

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you answered this hypothetical question, then

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maybe you need to remember that Jesus entered

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Jerusalem lowly and humble. As his followers,

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we need to be lowly and humble too.