The Big Rock

Psalm 95:1-3
"O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods."

 

One day a preacher spoke to a group of college kids.

As this man stood in front of the group of high-powered overachievers he said, "Okay, time for a quiz."

Then he pulled out a one-gallon, wide-mouthed mason jar and set it on a table in front of him. Next he produced a large rock and placed it in the jar.

Then he took about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time, into the jar.

When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, "Is this jar full?"

Everyone in the class said, "Yes."

Then he said, "Really?"

He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. Then he dumped some gravel in and shook the jar causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the spaces between the rocks.

Then he smiled and asked the group once more, "Is the jar full?"

By this time the class was onto him.

"Probably not," one of them answered.

"Good!" he replied.

And he reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in and it went into all the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked the question, "Is this jar full?"

"No!" the class shouted.

Once again he said, "Good!"

Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim. Afterwards he looked up at the class and asked, "What is the point of this illustration?"

One eager beaver raised his hand and said, "The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard, you can always fit some more things into it!"

"No!" the preacher replied, "that's not the point. The truth this illustration teaches us is this: If you don't put the big rock in first, you'll never get it in at all."

The title of this letter is “The Big Rock”. What is the big rock of life? It’s Jesus Christ. And the jar represents your life that’s filled with the stuff of life: job, family, friends, hobbies, church, traveling, finances, education, relationships, marriage, children and so forth.

If you don’t put in the Big Rock first then you won’t be able to get it in the jar at all. In other words, if you’re too busy with life then you make no room for Jesus. However, if you put Jesus first, then everything else will fall into place.

Dear Reader, what’s holding you back from putting Jesus first? He loves you dearly. The proof of his majestic love is on full display at Calvary (John 3:26; Rom. 5:8).

Put your faith in the Rock of Ages! Here’s how: The Plan of Salvation