SETTING PRIORITIES

Usually I ignore the tons of email forwards I receive and delete them straight away however, the Holy Spirit made me read one that really opened my eyes to putting my life in order. Many may have read the mail and been blest by it already (i.e. if you’ve applied it to your life! … Bro. Johnson’s parting words to me this time were –‘ APPLY the knowledge that you have gained’).

 For those of you who may not have read it, it goes somewhat like this:

Once, a professor in a Bible College decides to play a game with his pupils. He divides the class into two teams and gives each the following materials: A glass jar, Ping-Pong balls, tiny pebbles and sand. He tells them to fill the jar with the provided materials in 2 minutes flat. Everyone gets onto the exercise in a flash, not thinking analyzing and planning the problem/solution. One team puts the sand in first and by the time they realize their mistake, the time is up! The other starts correctly by putting the Ping-Pong balls first but they put the sand next and they too lose time in correcting the sequence. The professor than allows them enough time to collectively think out the problem and the solution and this time, they get it right!

The Ping-Pong balls go in first, followed by the small pebbles, then the sand. The professor, then clarifies the intent of this exercise; the jar is our LIFE. The Ping-Pong balls are all the ‘spiritually good things of life’, the small pebbles represent all our ‘worldly wants’ and the sand are all the ‘non-essential’ things of life.

The one who fills the jar with the pebbles and the sand first is one who will miss out on the ‘life-giving’ things in life as he will not be able to fit the Ping-Pong balls later. Once you’ve PRIORITIZED and placed the ‘spiritual things’ first, just like how the pebbles and sand fills the gaps between the balls, other things will just fall into place!

Then the professor asks the pupils, “So is the jar full now?” and they all answer in unison, “Yes”.

The professor walks over to the jar with his glass of water and pours it into the jar and smiles.

“Even if the the jar is full, God can still fill you with the ‘streams of living water’ he has promised us!

Like me, when I first read the story, many of you may be saying, ‘How can I ever put things in the right order?’ Well, on your own power YOU JUST CANNOT! But with the grace that Jesus has brought to us, WE CAN. As you go deeper into His Word,  your jar will be emptied and ‘Re-ORDERED’.

One great place to start understanding the above is to read MAT 6:25 to 33 which ends like this:

SEEK FIRST the kingdom of heaven and HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS and ALL will be added unto you.