day no. 15,512: held in high esteem and at a distance

2 Kings 10:18-19
Then Jehu assembled all the people and said to them, "Ahab served Baal a little, but Jehu will serve him much. Now therefore call to me all the prophets of Baal, all his worshipers and all his priests. Let none be missing, for I have a great sacrifice to offer to Baal. Whoever is missing shall not live." But Jehu did it with cunning in order to destroy the worshipers of Baal.

Jehu called upon all who worship Baal by providing a safe space for them to congregate and do what they love best together. He called the meeting upon force of death. Let not one be missing who looks to Baal. To be missing from this is to be considered outside of Baal. This being set up, Jehu then did an audit at the assembly to assure that not a single worshiper of the Lord had snuck into their soiree. When it was confirmed that it was only Baal worshipers and that no one who was a true Baal worshiper was missing and that no half-hearted hacks were present, Jehu let loose and destroyed the entire lot of Baal worshipers in one fell swoop. 

Jehu disguised an attempt to purify Israel from Baal worship as an attempt to purify Baal worship in Israel. 

You may say that a half-hearted Baal worshiper may have skipped the meeting and survived the onslaught, thus preserving a seed of Baal worship inside Israel. But the beauty of Jehu's plan was that he made it so easy to gather that if any who had warm feelings for Baal were not present, they were not warm enough to be any threat to Israel. They may have a safe harbor for Baal in their affections, but they aren't the kind of people who are going to raise a fuss or violently assert those beliefs onto others if they can't even find a way to show up for the big Baal ball. If they don't take the easy on ramp, there is good reason to believe they will not strive to advance the cause if it were to be difficult.

The same tactic could be used against Christians. The world could make it easy to profess faith in Him and incentivize the gathering with threats of violence for foregoing it and some would still hang back. They would possess warm feelings for Jesus, but not enough fire even to move them to attend the meeting. Thus, if the world tried to snuff out Christianity in one fell swoop, the only surviving sentiments about Jesus would be so lukewarm that they couldn't boil water.

Acts 5:13
None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem.

Some hold Jesus and His people in high esteem, but still hold Him and His people at a safe distance. The world knows it has nothing to fear from these sorts and God knows He cannot depend on these as they quarantine their cares voluntarily.