Mark 5:17-18 And they began to pray him to depart out of their coasts. And when he was come into the ship, he that had been possessed with the devil prayed him that he might be with him
The other week my wife and I stopped for lunch as we were traveling home from North Carolina. After we got some drive thru, we were headed back to the interstate when we saw a man who wandered from the edge of the road into the four-lane highway. As the car ahead of us went past this man, it was obvious that he was walking straight for the car and talking or even yelling to himself. As we got closer, he changed his gaze, locked in on me, and started walking straight toward my truck. He looked like he was really upset and was going to yell at me. My wife and I were talking and I instantly said, “Stop. I need to concentrate on what is going on here.” I didn’t know whether to flee or fight. Thankfully I didn’t have to do either one. We slipped by and he was safe last I saw. The man was clearly not all in his right mind.
In Mark 5 we read about a man who was poorly clothed, which is to say he wasn’t clothed, badly cut, and clearly crazy. The Bible says he had an unclean spirit. This is language that is not familiar to us, but it explains that this man was under the influence and rulership of the devil and those whom he controls. This man confronted the Lord Jesus. To make a long story short, Jesus delivered this man from that bondage. Here was a man who could neither be freed nor bound. The people in the area tried to bind him and he broke loose repeatedly, yet they could not free him. Jesus did just that.
What is interesting is the contrast in responses from the people of the area and the man whom Jesus delivered. Verse 17 says, “And they began to pray him to depart out of their coasts.” When they saw this man “sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind… they were afraid. They weren’t afraid of the crazy man; they were afraid of what had happened. The status quo had been changed. Their own economy seemed to be threatened by the change of status quo.
On the other hand, verse 18 says, “And when he [Jesus] was come into the ship, he that had been possessed with the devil prayed him that he might be with him.” One group said, “Please, go” and one man said “Please, let me stay with you.” Now, what was important? In the case of these people who were in the area, it was their hogs. The hogs had been destroyed because of what happened when Jesus delivered this man. To Jesus the man was important. The people had more compassion on their own hogs than they had on this man their neighbor.
What is important to you? You might ask your phone. For most of us our iPhone knows us better than our own mama. It knows what we ask, how we spend our time, what we look at. If someone asks, “What is important to you?” you might give them an answer, but sometimes our own actions betray us. Verse 21 tells us that when Jesus went over by ship to the other side, many people were waiting for Him. Any time there is a group ready to reject Christ, there is another group that is waiting for Him. The bottom line is that this man who was delivered and this group who had lost their currency, their hogs, had different priorities. We know that because one man wanted Jesus to stay and another group wanted Jesus to go. Your priorities are indicated by what you say no to. Priority should be singular. It is “prior,” what is prior in importance and in place. There can only be one thing that is most important at any given time, but your priority is indicated by whom you say not to or to whom you say yes. These people said no to Jesus and by that indicated what was important to them. It wasn’t His work; it was their hogs.
Someone has said, “A lack of time is a lack of priority.” All of us have things we want to accomplish, and we might think, “There is no way I can do everything I need to do today.” I can sympathize with that for sure! But at the end of the day, do you think God is going to put more on you than you are able to accomplish in a day? Either God is doing that, which would seem unjust for a God Who is the originator of justice, or there are clearly things in most of our lives that seem important but are not. That means that there are things we think we must do that maybe we don’t have time to do. That comes down to what is most important. A lack of time is often a lack of priority.
Where does God fit in your life? Sometimes people say, “Well, I just don’t have time to read my Bible, study God’s Word, or take my worries and cares to God except in a superficial way.” To this I reply, “What is important to you?” A lack of time is a lack of priority, and your priority is indicated by whom you say no to. If I say no to God, it doesn’t matter what my mouth is saying, my actions are saying that God is not prior in importance to the other things that are taking my time.
The wrong priorities are a lack of perspective. There were hogs and there was this man. Jesus drove out the legion from this man and sent them into the hogs, and some cared more about the hogs than they did about this man. They were more fearful of what Jesus had done than they were fearful of the man when he was crazy. So, every yes in your life that is meaningful and positive is won by the character to say no. What is important to you today? To what are you saying no today, and to whom are you saying yes?