Big Rocks First

Your life can feel completely full and still be missing what matters most. Today I share a quick story from a high school classroom that has stuck with me for years: a teacher, a glass jar, and a lesson that exposes how easily we let small distractions crowd out our deepest priorities.

We walk through the “big rocks” metaphor step by step, from large stones to sand to water, and I explain why the order matters more than the volume. When we fill our days with the inconsequential first, there is no space left for the commitments that actually shape our character, our relationships, and our direction. This is practical time management, but it is also something deeper than productivity.

I also connect the illustration to a spiritual truth rooted in Matthew 6:33: seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. When our relationship with Jesus Christ becomes the first priority, it changes how everything else settles into place, including the things we all want more of like peace, purpose, healing, and healthy relationships.

If you need a clear five-minute reset for your morning, press play and decide what your big rocks are. Subscribe, share this with a friend who feels overloaded, and leave a review so more people can start their day right.

Transcript

Welcome And The Daily Format

SPEAKER_00 0:05

Good morning and welcome to Starting Right with Danny Mack. I'm going to be here every Monday to Friday to help you get a great five-minute start to your day. So grab your cup of coffee, sit back, relax, and let me help you start your day right.

The Jar And The Big Rocks

SPEAKER_00 0:22

So let me tell you a story about this science teacher with a grade twelve class. He walked into his classroom one day carrying a large glass jar. And the class was, you know, they were grade twelve, they don't settle down terribly easily. They were texting on their phones, they were talking to each other, they were not exactly paying a whole lot of attention. He walked in with the jar, he went behind his teaching counter and placed the jar on top of it. As the class began to settle down, he reached under the counter and pulled out some large rocks and began to place them in the jar. The class grew quiet and the students settled into their seats as they watched what he was doing. He hadn't really done anything quite like this before, but he very quietly just placed five large rocks into this jar. When he had done so, he looked at the class and said, I've placed these stones in the jar. Now is it full? And most of them said yes, yes, it's full. You couldn't get any more of those rocks into that jar. He said, Okay. He reached under the counter and he pulled out a box of smaller stones, and he began to pour those into the jar around the large rocks that were there. And as they filled up the jar, he shook the jar a little bit so that everything settled as best as it could until the stones were now up to the top level of the jar. Again he looked at the students and he said, Okay. So is the jar full now? They were a little bit more reluctant to say yes this time, but eventually most of them said yes. He reached under the counter one more time and pulled out a bag of sand, and he began to pour the sand into the jar. He shook the jar to allow the sand to get into all the nooks and crannies around the rocks until the sand was right up to the top of the jar. He looked at the class one more time and said Okay. Do you think the jar is full now? There was silence in the class. Nobody really wanted to answer at this point. Finally there were a few that said, Yeah, yeah, it's full, you can't get anything more in there. And before too long, most of the class was in agreement. The jar is now full, they said. Well the teacher reached under the counter and he pulled out a large bottle of water, which he began to pour into the jar. The water soaked in through the sand down to the bottom, began to fill in all of the cracks and air bubbles around every stone that was there, and pretty soon he had poured almost all of that bottle of water into the jar as well. He said, Well is the jar full now? And after a little bit of discussion, they agreed that it probably was. He said, You're right. Now it is actually full. He said, Okay, well what do you think you learned from this lesson? One of the students suggested, there's always room for more. Another one suggested it might be never assume an answer. The wise guy of the class said, never trust a teacher. Once the class settled down again, the teacher looked at them and said, No, really what you need to know here is a lesson for almost every area of your lives.

Seek First The Kingdom

SPEAKER_00 3:19

Whatever you're doing, wherever you are, you have to make sure you put the big rocks in first. If you get it the wrong way around, all the things that are inconsequential and don't mean a whole lot are going to take up all the time and all the space that you have in your life, and you'll never get around to really having to deal with the things that are important.

unknown 3:40

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_00 3:40

And that's a spiritual truth for us as well. Matthew chapter six and verse thirty three says, Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all of these other things will be added to you. That really is the story of the jar and the rocks. If we understand the importance of God's kingdom, of God's purpose and plan for our lives in our lives, then we have those big rocks in place first. We have the relationship with Jesus Christ. We are building that relationship, we are seeking what God wants of us and from us, and we're making sure that that is our first priority. And when we keep that as our first priority, it will allow all of the other things that we are looking for and trying to gain in our lives fall into place. If we want peace in our lives, we need to seek God's kingdom first. If we want to see miraculous healing in our lives, you have to seek the kingdom of God first. If we want to find purpose for our lives, we need to seek God's kingdom first. If we want our relationships to be happy and healthy, we need to seek God's kingdom first. And then all of these other things will come back into place. We need to keep our priorities right before God and allow Him to work in us, to teach us, to mold us, to shape us, so that all of the other things that we need can fall into place when we need them the most. Make sure you've got those big rocks, the important things, placed into the jar of your life first. Then you will start to see how the rest of life, all of the other things that we need and we seek and we want, fill in around the big rocks until we wind up being full. But we're full with everything that we need and not just some things that we need.

Final Charge And Goodbye

SPEAKER_00 5:24

Have a great day, my friends. We'll talk again tomorrow. Thank you for listening today. And I invite you to join me Monday to Friday right here on Starting Right with Danny Mack.