Would you stand out?

Romans 12:1-2 remind us, "So I beg you, brothers and sisters, because of the great mercy God has shown us, offer your lives as a living sacrifice to him—an offering that is only for God and pleasing to him. Considering what he has done, it is only right that you should worship him in this way. Don’t change yourselves to be like the people of this world, but let God change you inside with a new way of thinking. Then you will be able to understand and accept what God wants for you. You will be able to know what is good and pleasing to him and what is perfect." Noah was righteous and blameless before God. Out of all the huge multitude of people on earth at the time, he found favor with God. Others were noted to be so evil, to the point God could not tolerate their evil and corrupt hearts any longer. We can only imagine how difficult it would have been to remain righteous and obedient to God when all those around you were so totally corrupt. Sin was rampant and everyone else was engaging in all manner of evil. Sometimes it is hard to stand for what is right, especially when all around us is standing for what is evil, corrupt, and even vile.

Very few people stood out in scripture as being noted to be 'righteous', 'good', and 'different' from the society around them, but Noah stood out. He was different, choosing not to do the same things those around him were doing. According to scripture, his family trusted God. We don't see evidence that there were any other 'believers' of the time that trusted God in the same way. Maybe there were some 'posers' in the land, but we don't see evidence of God sparing anyone else in the flood. The more we embrace the culture of the day, the further and further people grow away from the holiness of God. The easier it becomes to compromise until we don't really even know what righteousness is any longer. It is easier to change scripture to fit our desires and to justify our sins. 

We live in a dark world as well, but it as far as we know, it is not nearly as dark as it was during Noah's time. We can still find fellowship and other believers to help us live upright lives. We may see all manner of 'unrighteousness' around us, but we aren't alone in the pursuit of righteousness. One of the hardest questions we may have to answer is if we would find favor in God’s sight right now. If God were looking for a righteous man or woman, would he be able to choose you? Would you stand out as being righteous or are you basically acting the same as all those around you in this world? Just askin!