Do you focus on the golf balls or the sand in your life?
The bible tells us in Colossians 3:2 “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things”. How many of us take time out to read, pray and listen to God, I ’m talking to myself as well. We can come up with what we think are legitimate responses, I ’m too busy, I’ve got to do some work, I’ve got to see to the children etc.
We generally don’t organise our time effectively or efficiently. At one time I used to use the PAL system perhaps its time to go back there again. PAL stands for Projects, Activities and Leisure time. Whatever you do the key is to find leisure time each day.
Joyce Meyer recently challenged people to a 30/30 challenge which is a 30 min a day reading the Bible for 30 days! Now that really challenged me as my initial mind set was not what it should have been. I began to think about how I spend my time, which in turn led me to the golf ball story, my wife and I shared at every event with the charity we ran.
It’s an odd thing time, we all get 24 hours or 1440 minutes or even 86400 seconds. We used to ask people what you would do if you had £1440 given to you every day, you could not save it or you would get no more. The day you don’t need this money is when you are no longer alive, we asked how would you spend this money, effectively and efficiently? There was always excitement, after say 5 minutes the room would do would go quite when we changed the statement to … “that is how many minutes you are given each day”. Now the question was changed to “how effective and efficient are you at spending the time you have been given”?
You may have heard of some of the following terms: time-starved, time-poor, time scarcity, time poverty, time famine, time pressure, leisure gap, cult of busyness, harried, overwork culture, and over scheduled. We feel like we’re “pressed for time,” that there’s “not enough time in the day,” and that we are “running out of time.”
Many modern conveniences (e.g. washer/dryer, dishwasher, mobile phones, tablets, computers etc) have significantly shaved off hours of daily / weekly events. Are we actually busier than ever before? Or, do we just feel busier?
Two questions for you: Has our relationship with time changed? As a result has our relationship with God changed?
To illustrate the above and to focus our thinking ~ A short story to help you sort out the golf balls and sand in your life.
A philosophy professor stood before his class and had some items in front of him. When class began, wordlessly he picked up a large empty jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.
He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was. So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles, of course, rolled into the open areas between the rocks.
He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.
The students laughed. The professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else.
“Now,” said the professor, “I want you to recognise that this is your life. The golf balls are the important things – your family, your partner, your health, your children, your passions – anything that is so important to you that if it were lost, you would be nearly destroyed.
“The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, your car.
“The sand is everything else. The small stuff!!!
“If you put the sand into the jar first, there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for your life. If you spend all your energy and time on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you.
“Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out dancing. Fulfil your passions. There will always be time to go to work, clean the house, give a dinner party and fix the disposal.
“Take care of the golf balls first – the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.”
To watch the video on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqGRnlXplx0
To bring us back to the bile and our goal remember what Paul said in Philippians 3 12-14 (MSG) I’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back.
15-16So let’s keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us. If any of you have something else in mind, something less than total commitment, God will clear your blurred vision—you’ll see it yet! Now that we’re on the right track, let’s stay on it.
THINK STOP & REFLECT!!
Remember you are leading YOU through life, it’s time to ask yourselves; “in what areas of my life’s journey am I focusing on the sand”?
Removing Barriers Releasing Potential 