It is easy to do what everyone is doing.  It takes no courage or conviction to follow the crowd and maybe that is why so many people do it.  Going along with the majority, never challenging the status quo, is a comforting way to live.

The life of a Christian, however, is not meant to be comfortable.  I am not saying that God demands that we live in a state of constant distress; but, I am saying that at times we must choose to do right over comfort.   Moses gave us a good example of this.

Hebrews 11:24-25 (ESV)
²⁴  By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, ²⁵  choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.

When it comes to following the crowd, we must make the same choice that Moses did.  We must choose to be uncomfortable, perhaps even persecuted, rather than do what everyone else is doing.

Exodus 23:2 (NKJV)
²  You shall not follow a crowd to do evil; nor shall you testify in a dispute so as to turn aside after many to pervert justice.

It is admittedly hard to take positions in life that are rejected by the majority.  This is true religiously as well as secularly.  I have often wondered how Paul felt the first time he went back to Jerusalem after his conversion to Christ.  So far as we know, the majority of his acquaintances, including his family and friends, were strongly committed to Judaism.  That did not matter to Paul.  He knew that Jesus was Lord and that the Law of Moses had been replaced by the gospel.  But Paul was not a robot.  He had feelings, and it could not have been easy to know that the very ones that praised him in the past, would now persecute him for standing with Christ.  Still, we never see Paul wavering.  Instead, he boldly did what was right.

Philippians 1:20 (KJV)
²⁰  According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.

Paul did not allow the fact that his new conviction, which was shared by only a few, dictate his actions.  He not only continued in the faith, but he was set for the defense of the gospel (Philippians 1:17).

Will you do what is right in the eyes of God or follow the multitude?  Religiously, morally, and doctrinally, it may feel at times like you are on an island all by yourself.  Most of your family may be active members of denominational churches that is popular with people.  Many of your friends may think that your religious convictions are odd.  Will you cave in to peer pressure?  Will you take the easy road and compromise?  Remember, when it comes to following a multitude, that may be the easy road, but it is rarely the road that leads to heaven.

Matthew 7:13 (ESV)
¹³  “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.

As you wind down for the night, think about these things.