A teacher speaking to a group of his students pulled out a one-gallon, wide-mouthed mason jar and set it on a table in front of him. He then produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time, into the jar.
When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, “Is this jar full?”
Everyone in the class said, “Yes.”
“Really?” he asked. “Let’s see.” He reached under the table and pulled
out a bucket of gravel. Then he dumped some gravel in and shook the jar,
causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the spaces between
the big rocks. He asked again, “Is the jar full?”
His class was catching on quickly. “Probably not,” one of them answered.
“Very good!” he replied. He then reached under the table and brought out a
bucket of sand. He dumped the sand into the jar and it went into the
spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. He asked again, “Is this jar full?”
“No!” the class shouted.
“Excellent!” he replied. Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and poured it
in until the jar was filled to the brim. He then asked,”What is the point of this illustration? The point is”, said the teacher. “If you don’t put the big rocks in first, you will never get them in at all!”
What are the “Big Rocks” in your life?
Put God First
King Solomon wrote: “In everything you do, put God first, and he will direct you and crown your efforts with success”.
Are your priorities, your “Big Rocks” ignored while the mundane sand and gravel of daily living fill up your schedule?
“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart… soul… strength… mind”
That is a big, big rock.
