Let me begin by reviewing a sermon I recently delivered called “Don’t drop the ball”. The big idea: the best way to balance life is to determine and live our priorities. You may have seen it before, but I used an illustration with a clear, empty pretzel container. First, I filled it with several fist-sized rocks. Then, I asked if it was full. No! Then, I dropped a few pounds of gravel into it, and asked,
“Full yet?” No! Then came the sand. Still not full! Then and finally the water. And the point you asked?
“You can always fit more into your life!!!” some said.
“Not quite… although that would fit our driven, never slow-down American mindset. PUT the BIG ROCKS in FIRST!” That’s the point. If we don’t put the big rocks in first, life will fill up with urgent, busy, weighty things, but less important things.
God has entrusted us with “big rocks”: children, spouses, friends, our church. The balancing act of life is to put the “big rocks” in first. It’s not trying to figure out how we can juggle all the balls or fit everything into the jar, but making sure that we put the most important things in first. What are those “big rocks” that we put into our life to balance first? And how do we do that?
READ Luke 10. Luke 10 is a chapter on priorities. The chapter begins with, “After these things…” so I looked back at the end of chapter 9, which has three different stories about excuses people gave for not following Jesus, and He makes the point clear, “What’s most important in your life?” Where will you focus your energy, your time, your money, and your talents?
That’s right where Jesus picks up in Luke 10. At the beginning of the chapter, He challenges his followers to make their lives count. Then he uses an anecdote to ask whether we should look out for others or ourselves. Finally, the chapter concludes with a simple little incident that summarizes the whole point. It’s the Mary and Martha story.
And the application: we must choose, resource, and protect our priorities!
And why am I sharing this with you?
Not only do we need to live this, but we need to encourage others to apply this truth.
The tendency seems to be that people will live by and resource priorities as long as it’s convenient or immediately in front of them. But the moment life comes at them, the gravel starts getting poured in OR there’s not enough room for all the sand they just bought,
“Pull out a ROCK to make room!” What gets chucked- values and priorities. And I think I have the instinct to apologize for teaching and encouraging people to have biblical priorities and to do the right things. It’s actually hard for me to challenge people to pray instead of work, follow God’ morals rather than do what they want, or even tithe rather than panic and hoard.
What I do know, however, and it helps me teach and model the right things, is that God blesses and honors those who keep biblical priorities and do the right thing. He doesn’t bless the opposite. So, I’m actually causing people to live outside of the blessings of God if I don’t challenge them to get things in order and live by biblical truths. This means SPEAKING THE TRUTH (yea, some of you like that part) IN LOVE (oh, that’s there too?).
As a pastor, my purpose in teaching, challenging, and guiding is to see people thrive in the favor of God and fulfill their life purpose.
Not a sermon, just a thought!
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