No one wants to be unique anymore. Everyone wants to fit in. Follow the crowd because we want to be like everyone else. Peer pressure is the hardest pressure to overcome. As children, we want to be like everyone else (and liked by everyone else.) We want to be picked by the team leader. We want to join others on the cheerleader squad, we want to join everyone who is going to the party. We want to go where everyone is going. We want to have what everyone else has – the latest fad, the latest fashion, the latest gadget.

The temptation to be like everyone else is strong. Yet, God calls us to be different. Why? God wants us to be different by depending upon Him. He is unique and He calls His children to be unique among the nations, among the other peoples of the world. Why? God wants us to be an example for others, to be a conduit of His grace that other people can see.

Samuel thought that the people of Israel had committed a sin for asking to have a king. God said that it was not necessarily sinful. He did say that trusting in a king like other nations was wrong because they rejected God. Other nations did not depend on God. God expected more from His people. He expected them to trust Him for their leadership.