Totally excited about the opportunity to give back to our community this coming Saturday for City Outreach Day! If you want more info about it click here. The list of opportunities is varied and offers a glimpse into the lives of those in our community that may need a hand up and a glimpse of the Father Who loves them. Like many, finding the time to add one more thing to my to-do list is taxing.
With that in mind, I offer this on priorities:
A professor stood before his philosophy class and filled a large empty jar with a dozen golf balls then asked his students if the jar was full. Unanimously the class responded yes. The professor then picked up a box of small pebbles and poured it into the jar; with a gentle shake, the pebbles filled in the spaces between the golf balls. Again he asked his students if the jar was full, to which they responded, yes. He then took a bag of sand and poured it into the jar, the fine granules filtered easily through the balls and pebbles and into the tiny crevices. With slight chuckles the class pronounced their assurance that the jar was completely full this time. Picking up two cups of coffee, the professor proceeded to pour them effortlessly into the jar effectively filling up the empty space between the sand as the class erupted with laughter.
When the laughter subsided, the professor explained that the jar represented each of their lives and the golf balls the things that are important – marriages, children, health, friends, and passions; those things that, if all else was lost, life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter to us all ‐ our job, house, and car. The sand was everything else – the small stuff. If the sand had been put in the jar first, there wouldn’t have been room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same is true for life; if our time and energy are only spent on the small stuff, then there will never be room for the important. If we pay attention to the things that are critical to life, our loved ones and health, then fill in with the important, there’s usually plenty of time for the small stuff.
When asked about the coffee, the professor grinned and replied, ‘no matter how full life is, there is always room for coffee with a friend.’
While the philosophy professor didn’t include a relationship with Jesus in his demonstration, for Believers it is a substantial part of the makeup of the jar itself into which all else is poured. Scripture gives us small cameos of Jesus’ life, it seems to be one fully lived in a mere 33 years. We get glimpses of his family relationships, vocation, ministry, interests, home and friends - a life rich, full, and productive; a life spent loving and connecting with others. It’s the same life we all really want. Granted, Jesus was the man He was because of the Father He had. But we won’t become like Jesus focusing on Jesus, we have to learn to focus on what He focused on - His Father.
Deana Kennedy
Co-Pastor and Life Groups Director
Deanna, you are so right. We all think that there is not enough time in the day to accomplish everything that is coming our way, but if we focus on what we are doing for the goodness of God and allow him to work through us we can do more than we ever thought to be possible.I can always tell when I have my focus where it needs to be because the day seems longer and much more productive. Thanks for sharing this article on priorities.