THE DANGER OF CHRISTMAS BUSYNESS
The Danger of Christmas Busyness
Dan Rodgers
Luke 2:15-17
ILLUS: On a particular occasion, a professor was speaking to a group of his business students about time management. In order to drive home a point, he used the following illustration.
He pulled out a one-gallon, wide-mouthed Mason jar and set it on a table in front of him. Then he produced 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 big rocks. Then he smiled and asked the group once more, ''Is the jar full?'' By this time the class was catching on. ''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. Then he looked up at the class and asked, ''What is the point of this illustration?'' A student 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 speaker replied, ''That's not the point. The truth this illustration teaches us is: If you don't put the big rocks in first, you'll never get them in at all. We are talking about priorities - things that are to be placed in order of importance.''
INTRODUCTION:
1. Here's the application I would like to make: Christmas is a time of busyness...buying presents, the tree, making ce ...
Dan Rodgers
Luke 2:15-17
ILLUS: On a particular occasion, a professor was speaking to a group of his business students about time management. In order to drive home a point, he used the following illustration.
He pulled out a one-gallon, wide-mouthed Mason jar and set it on a table in front of him. Then he produced 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 big rocks. Then he smiled and asked the group once more, ''Is the jar full?'' By this time the class was catching on. ''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. Then he looked up at the class and asked, ''What is the point of this illustration?'' A student 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 speaker replied, ''That's not the point. The truth this illustration teaches us is: If you don't put the big rocks in first, you'll never get them in at all. We are talking about priorities - things that are to be placed in order of importance.''
INTRODUCTION:
1. Here's the application I would like to make: Christmas is a time of busyness...buying presents, the tree, making ce ...
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