“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: … You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first…” (Revelation 2:1, 4-5 NIV).
“… one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14 NIV).
“Put first things first.” (Stephen Covey, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People).
Covey illustrates his “first things” habit with a story about rocks. In the illustration he describes what one of his associates had experienced at a seminar. In the middle of the lecture the seminar presenter pulled out a wide-mouth jar and placed it on a table next to some large rocks.
After filling the jar to the top with the rocks, he asked the students, “Is the jar full?”
Seeing it was obviously full, they replied, “Yes!”
“Not so fast,” he cautioned. He then got some gravel from under the table and added it to the jar, filling the spaces between the rocks. Again, he asked, “Now, Is the jar full?”
This time the students replied “Maybe…”
The presenter then pulled a bucket of sand from below the table and dumped it in the jar, filling the spaces between the rocks and the gravel. Once again he asked “Is it full now?”
“Yes! It’s definitely full now.” The students shouted.
As a final touch, he grabbed a pitcher of water and filled the jar completely. He asked, do you think I could have gotten everything in, if I had started with the water and the sand?
“No way!” They answered.
“You’re right,” he said. “If you want to get the big rocks in the jar, you have to put them in first.”
Have you ever noticed how easy it is to let “sand and water” fill your life? If you don’t choose to pursue what really matters, what’s really important, then the urgent will take over.
Jesus challenged the church at Ephesus to get back to the “first things,” to return to their “first love.” God really cares about what priority we place on our love and worship for Him. I suppose that’s why the first commandment says, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” God wants first place.
The apostle Paul said that he had made pursuing Christ his “one thing.” In a sense Paul was putting one “big rock” in his life’s “jar” first. He made everything else in his life fit in around following Christ.
I’m learning that putting the big Rock in first brings order to everything else.
Thanks for bringing that to my attention. Sometimes in our busy lives we seem to put other things or people first. Need to step back and re-group and then press on toward the goal!!!
I need to be CONSTANTLY reminded of choosing the rocks instead of the sand. My life can be a sand storm! This picture of the rocks is amazing!!