Priorities

Priorities come up on a regular basis in the Bible, and one of the cool things about books like Kings and Samuel is their narrative style, they read like a story and they let us in on the lives of people in the Bible and we see the issues that they had, it's a no holds barred account, and we see often some poor priorities, like those of Jeroboam in 1 Kings 13.

The kingdom has just been split and a 'man of God' comes from Judah to Bethel (Israel to Samaria) with a message:
By the word of the LORD a man of God came from Judah to Bethel, as Jeroboam was standing by the altar to make an offering. 2 He cried out against the altar by the word of the LORD: “O altar, altar! This is what the LORD says: ‘A son named Josiah will be born to the house of David. On you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places who now make offerings here, and human bones will be burned on you.’” 3 That same day the man of God gave a sign: “This is the sign the LORD has declared: The altar will be split apart and the ashes on it will be poured out.” (1 Kings 13:1-3 NIV)
The man of God comes with a prophecy, a king will be coming who will do detestable things at the altar in Bethel, he will sacrifice people. Not only that but he will sacrifice the current Levitical priests. Something that doesn't seem too much of a stretch given the priesthood in Bethel is not Levitical, and is essentially going to the highest bidder.

Jeroboam reacts:
When King Jeroboam heard what the man of God cried out against the altar at Bethel, he stretched out his hand from the altar and said, “Seize him!” But the hand he stretched out toward the man shriveled up, so that he could not pull it back. 5 Also, the altar was split apart and its ashes poured out according to the sign given by the man of God by the word of the LORD. (1 Kings 13:4-5 NIV)
Jeroboam should be shocked and appalled by this news, and immediately seek a way to avoid what the prophet says will happen, but that's not his concern, instead he wants the prophet silenced and so he calls for his guards to arrest the man of God.

We now see Jeroboam's priorities even clearer:
Then the king said to the man of God, “Intercede with the LORD your God and pray for me that my hand may be restored.” So the man of God interceded with the LORD, and the king’s hand was restored and became as it was before. (1 Kings 13:6 NIV)
Jeroboam's request of the prophet shows where his priorities lie. Jeroboam isn't concerned about what the man of God has just spoken to him or what he has just witnessed, rather he is concerned about his hand, and so he requests that the man intercede with the LORD YOUR God for his hand to be restored, he isn't concerned with God, just himself. Also notice that he calls God the Lord YOUR God, instead of OUR God, he has given up his relationship with God and even in the face of the miraculous he doesn't change.

How often are we like Jeroboam? We treat God like he's a vending machine, and even in the face of some bad news for us if we continue down our path with continue to ignore God's calling. Let us repent and turn back to our God, he will forgive us and heal us.