So those who fed the swine fled, and they told it in the city and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that had happened. Then they came to Jesus, and saw the one who had been demon-possessed and had the legion, sitting and clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. And those who saw it told them how it happened to him who had been demon-possessed, and about the swine. Then they began to plead with Him to depart from their region. And when He got into the boat, he who had been demon-possessed begged Him that he might be with Him.
Mark 5:14-18 If Jesus saved a lost soul, but you suffered a financial loss as a result, how would you react? What is more important to you: money and the things of this world, or seeing Jesus save a lost soul? We see in this story from Mark how some unsuspecting Jewish pig farmers faced this very question.
After Jesus miraculously freed a man of demon possession, and cast the demons into a herd of approximately 2,000 swine, this group of pig farmers pleaded with Jesus to leave. They had suffered a financial loss, so they got angry. And instead of rejoicing over a lost soul being saved from the torments of the enemy, they hated Jesus. But why were they raising pigs in the first place? They knew that raising pigs was against God's law, and was an embarrassment to their fellow Jewish people. They had money and greed on their minds, and their greed really shows up in this story.
We really need to be careful not to do the very same thing that these people did. Do we care about money and material things more than we do lost souls? Are we more concerned about how to get more in the bank than we are about the world that desperately needs Jesus? These people thought that material possessions and money were more important than the power of Jesus Christ changing a life. So, don't let this physical realm take you over the cliff with those pigs. Surrender your heart like this man did, and focus on the Kingdom of heaven, not the kingdom of darkness. "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal” (Matthew 6:19-20). |
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