Rocks and Gravel
Roger and Rebecca Merrill once described one of their seminars on time management. At this seminar, the leader (Stephen Covey) had a large container (about 2 ½ gallons), with a wide opening on top. He also had several large rocks about the size of oranges. He put a number of these large rocks into the container, and kept doing so until they reached the top. He asked the participants if the container was full. They all said “yes” rather enthusiastically. Then he took some gravel and started pouring the gravel in. He shook the container and the gravel went into all the little spaces between the big rocks. He again asked the group if the container was full. Their response was less certain. He then repeated the process with sand, and finally with water, and was able to put a considerable amount of each item into the container.
When he finished he said to the group: “So, what’s the point?” One of the participants answered: “Well, there are gaps, and if you really work at it, you can always fit more into your life.” “No,” he said, “that’s not the point. The point is this: if you hadn’t put these big rocks in first, would you ever have gotten any of them in?”
The “big rocks” in our lives are those things that are of the highest importance: friendships, relationships with family members, service to others, and hopefully our relationship with God. But it’s easy for the “gravel” of life… the errands, the “to do” lists, the detailed demands of a job, or the appointments and tasks of daily life… to fill the container.
Last Sunday (from the book of Luke) we heard the story of Martha and Mary. Jesus was a guest in Martha’s home. The scriptures told us that Martha was busy with many things, but that her sister Mary was attentive to Jesus and his teachings. We em-phasized, however, that Martha’s hard work and activities were not the main problem. It was rather that Martha forgot the most important thing while focusing on her work. Martha filled the container of her life with gravel, and then did not have time or space for the largest rock of all.
Jesus once told his disciples about the kingdom or “realm of God.” He said: The realm of God is like “treasure hidden in a field” (Matt. 13:44 [show] "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. (ESV)
). Later he said: seek first God’s realm and right relationship to him… and the other things will be.added unto you (paraphrase and italics mine). That right relationship includes (as we said last Sunday) loving God with heart, soul, mind, and strength.
Of course none of us does this perfectly, and many of us (myself included) have a long way to go. However as we plow through the schedule, stress, demands, and “gravel” of our lives, Jesus would tell us that our relationship to God is the biggest rock of all, and thus it is the rock that must go FIRST into the container of our lives.
In Christ,
Joe
