Misplaced Priorities

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Image source: John Paul Stanley / YoPlace.com

In several places in today’s Bible reading* we see misplaced priorities. Three times (Matthew 8:28-34; Mark 5:1-17; Luke 8:26-32) we see a town concerned more for the financial well-being of their community than for the spiritual and physical well-being of a demonized man who lived among them.

The reason I say this is because when Jesus cast the demons out of the man into a herd of pigs, causing them to run into the sea and die, the pig herders told the townspeople who told Jesus to leave. I suppose they’d rather have pigs to sell than for a man to be freed from his demonic torment.

Elsewhere, (Matthew 8:18-22; Luke 9:57-62) we see people who say they want to follow Jesus, but when it came time to pursue eternal priorities, they chose to take care of immediate needs.

Application

All of us have to deal with urgent needs, but we can’t let those urgent things keep us from doing the important things. Unlike His Disciples, who dropped everything to immediately follow Jesus, these people chose instead to stay behind and tend to their temporal priorities. We’ll see more of these misplaced priorities in the days to come.

Saying farewell to your loved ones (Matthew 8:19-22; Luke 9:57-62) is important, but following Jesus is even more important. Every time you say, “No” makes it easier to say, “no” in the future.

But Jesus said to him,
“No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
Luke 9:62 (CSB)

Don’t misplace your priorities.
Say “Yes” to Jesus at every opportunity.

* Chapters covered in today’s reading:
Matthew 8:18-34
Matthew 9:18-38
Mark 4:35-41
Mark 5:1-43
Luke 8:22-56
Luke 9:57-62


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