The other day, I was reading a book to prepare for a Bible study that I'm in. The author mentioned that she had two jars -- one was filled with rocks and the other 3/4 filled with sand. The rocks represented her time with the Lord and the sand was all the things she had to do during the day. If you put the sand in the jar first, you have a hard time getting all the rocks to fit, but if you put the rocks in first, the sand fits into all those crevices around the rocks without overflowing out of the jar.
This was a great visual for how we can balance our lives. If we neglect to spend time with Jesus as our top priority, we'll have a hard time fitting Him into our lives. On the other hand, if we put Him first, He'll give us what we need to get all those other things done in addition to spending time with Him.
It's like the story of Martha and Mary from Luke 10:
38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things,42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one.[f] Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things,42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one.[f] Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
I can truly relate to Martha. I always want to make sure everything is done. "First, I'll do the laundry and then I'll be able to have more time to study God's Word." But, the reality is that the more things I end up doing, the more I see that needs to be done before I have that extra time. By the end of the day, I realize I haven't even talked to God much outside of a quick prayer for patience so I can get through my day. Sometimes, when I do have a moment, I see myself going back and forth on whether I should read my latest Christian fiction or should I sit down with my Bible. The latter usually ends up staying on my bookshelf. I'm almost embarrassed to admit it, but I still struggle with that. Thank goodness for God's grace, right?
So I really want to strive to be more like Mary. I don't want to miss out on what God has in store for me today. I want to hear His words of love and encouragement. I want to feel that wonderful joy as I'm doing my daily tasks. I don't want to feel burdened by all the work I need to do during the day.
In the end, I know that both roles are good to have, but there's beautiful about being able to balance our work and daily lives along with sitting at the feet of Jesus and listening to Him.
Thanks for the reminder!! :) I love that visual. You are not alone in this struggle. I need to work on this too!!
ReplyDeleteI figured I wasn't alone, but it's nice to hear it from someone else. :-) I absolutely LOVED the visual of the rocks and sand. It's from a book called "A Woman's Secret to a Balanced Life." It's pretty great so far and I'd recommend it if you're looking for good study book.
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