Rocks, Gravel, Sand and Water

Let me first start by saying that I cannot take credit for the following example, as I did not originate it. In fact, I was listening to Turning Point with Dr. David Jeremiah and I was so touched by what he shared that I thought I would share it with all of you.

Let's say I have a large, empty 5-gallon jar. If I place fist sized rocks into the jar until no more can fit, is it full? Before you answer, let me say that after I place the rocks in the jar, I pick up a bag of gravel and begin to pour that into the jar. Where does the gravel go? In between the spaces left by the rocks. After I fill the jar to the brim with gravel, is it full?

Before you answer, consider this: I pour a bag of sand into the jar. Where does the sand go? Into the spaces left by the gravel, of course. After filling the jar to the brim with sand, is it full?

Before you answer, consider this: I pour a pitcher of water into the same jar. Where does the water go? Into the spaces between the grains of sand, the gravel and the rocks.

What is the point of that? Consider this: if the water had gone in first and filled the jar, would there have been room for the sand? The gravel? The rocks? The simple answer is no.

Now imagine that the jar is your life and the rocks, gravel, sand and water represents the "stuff" of life, i.e. family, friends, work, bills, recreation, personal time with God, etc. If we don't take care of the big things first, we'll find that we spend all of our time on the more trivial things and have no time left to handle the big things of life.

If the rocks represent our personal time with the Lord ( i.e. Bible study, prayer, devotion, worship time, etc.), then it behooves us to take care of those things first before anything else. But if you're like me, you find it more convenient to do the trivial things (the gravel, sand and water) first because it seems like you get more done. While that gives a sense of accomplishment, it is dangerous because we are not leaving room for the rocks.

Conversely, if we take care of the big things first, you will be amazed how much of the less important things can be accomplished as well. 

I've blogged about this before, but some things bear repeating. Let us take the inconvenient path and place the rocks in the jar first.