Big Rocks in a Jar

Time management guru’s like to use the illustration of ‘Big Rocks in a Jar,’ to make us think of our priorities in life. The theory goes something like this: A philosophy teacher stands before his class with a glass jar on his desk. He proceeds to fill it up with big rocks and asks the class, “Is the glass jar full?” They all agree that it’s full. He then says, “No, it isn’t full yet.”   He then takes some pebbles and puts them into the jar, gives it a good shake to let them fill the spaces between the big rocks, and then asks the class again, “Is the glass jar full now?” Again, the class all agree that the jar is now full. “No, it isn’t full yet,” he replies. Then he takes some sand and fills it up to the brim, and says, “Now, is the glass jar full?” By this time the students are wary about saying yes. So finally, he takes a jug of water and pours it into the glass jar. Now, its completely full. 

The illustration clearly shows that if you put all the little stuff in first, there will be no room for the big rocks to fit in. So, the moral of the story is: If we fill up our lives with too much of the small stuff, there won’t be enough room to fit in the big stuff, the really necessary stuff. Sure, the small things in life have their place also. But if we only fill our lives with them, then we may have no room left for the really big important things that are absolutely necessary. 

You have to decide what the priorities are in your life. What are the things you simply must have or must do? Get those big rocks into that jar right from the start. Let’s not fritter away our lives with the least important things. Prioritise the important. 

This applies to our spiritual lives also. We have some really big rocks to fit into our lives. Prayer, reading God’s Word, worship, being in God’s house, by our lives and lips being a witness for Christ, and much more besides. 

Filling up our lives with too much of the little stuff will leave no room for the really important spiritual things.  The good can often become the enemy of the best. 

In 11Timothy 4:13 Paul is in prison. He is asking Pastor Timothy to visit him. Obviously, there must have been a limit of what Paul could ask Timothy to bring him. So, he narrows it down to just three things. Vs.13 “Bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas when you come – and the books, especially the parchments.” Whatever those books and parchments were we cannot be sure. But one thing we can be sure of, at that particular moment in Paul’s life, when incarcerated in prison, his cloak, his books and especially his parchments, were the three big rocks he wanted in his jar. 

What are the big rocks in your jar today?  

- Pastor David Goudy