There’s a story in the Hebrew scriptures of how the tribes of Israel reached a point where they wanted to have a king. Up to that point, they didn’t have one, but suddenly that had to have one. The reason? Because the nations around them all had kings. And that’s all they seemed to care about. It didn’t matter what the cost or ramifications were of setting up one person to rule over them. They just wanted to be like everyone else
And the same kind of thing happens today. We may make decisions on the basis of what everyone else is doing, but do so without counting the cost of our decisions. Perhaps it’s a financial cost, or a time cost, or an emotional cost, or a relational cost. Whatever it may be, basing our decisions solely on what others are doing is foolish. Better to ask ourselves, What’s the real reason I want to do this? And, ultimately, what’s the cost?