Have you ever heard the story of the college professor with a large glass jar and various sizes of rocks? The story goes like this:
The professor starts by adding in three very large rocks. Then he asks his students if the jar is full. The students agree that the jar is full. Then the professor takes out smaller rocks and fills the jar more. Once again he asks the students if the jar is full and they say yes. He takes out still smaller pebbles and fills the jar even more. Then again asks his students and they confirm it is in fact full. In fact they are convinced that nothing more will fit. So the professor takes out sand and fills the jar to the brim, finally declaring that the jar is full.
The Moral
Most people take away from this parable that there is always room in our life to take on more responsibilities. However, a pastor I know gave me a new perspective. The point is not that there is always room for more, but rather, we need to prioritize. If we start with the sand (non essential things that overwhelm our lives) then we won’t have room for the big rocks (the important things that matter most.) The moral of the story is to start with the important things and let the minor things fill in as time allows.
Take Action
Having a Christ-Centered life, means taking an inventory of “your rocks.” I broke mine down into different categories: Big, Medium, Small, & Sand. Then I looked at all the things that take my time and determined if they were Big, Medium, Small or Sand. It turns out I have a lot of sand in my life. After determining my big rocks, I recorded actions to take to show that they are a priority in my life.
I have created a template for you to use that will help you inventory your rocks in your life to see if you are putting too much energy into sand or if you are starting with your big rocks each day.
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