A teacher stood before her class, picked up a very large, empty mason jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks. She asked the students if the jar was full, and they agreed that it was.
So the teacher picked up a pail of pebbles, poured them into the jar, and shook it lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the rocks. She asked the students again if the jar was full. They all nodded.
Next the teacher took a bag of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. She asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous "yes."
The teacher then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured them into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The teacher pronounced the jar full, and the students laughed.
"What is the point of this illustration?" she asked, as the laughter faded.
An eager student raised his hand and said, "No matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard, you can always fit some more into it!"
"That's good," the teacher replied, "But let’s look a bit deeper. The jar represents your life. The rocks are the vital things: if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter to you and make a difference in your life. The sand is everything else-the small stuff and distractions."
"If you put the sand into the jar first," she continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the rocks. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Take care of the rocks first. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."
The eager student raised his hand again and asked about the coffee.
The teacher smiled. "I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for coffee with a friend."
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As Jesus said: “Don’t get all anxious and go asking, ‘What are we going to eat?’ or ‘Where will we find a drink?’ or ‘What on earth will we wear?’. It is the people who don’t put their trust in God who put all their energy into these things. You can rest assured that your Father in heaven knows perfectly well that you need these things. So you can make your first priority the new culture of God and doing the right thing, God’s way, and all these other things will be taken care of for you.” (Matthew 6:31-33-Laughingbird) "These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit—but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock. But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don't work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards." (Matthew 7:24-27-The Message)