There are so many things I want to do in this life and so little time to do them all. Career dreams, hobbies, skills I’d love to learn, places to explore, people to meet, experiences to savor – the list grows longer every day. But no matter how many “good things” I could spend time on, I’ve realized the importance of being intentional about which things get my time.

Have you ever seen the illustration of the jar filled with rocks, pebbles, and sand?

Imagine your life is that jar. The big rocks represent the most important things – your highest priorities. The pebbles are also good and meaningful, but not as essential. And the sand is everything else – the extra, the fluff, the distractions.

If you fill the jar with sand first, there’s no room left for the rocks and pebbles. But if you start with the big rocks, then add the pebbles, the sand can still sift in and fill the gaps.

This visual reminds me daily: if I don’t make space for the most important things, they’ll get crowded out by everything else.

For me, the big rocks are:

• Spending meaningful time with my family and teaching my children
• Being in God’s Word and prayer
• Staying connected to my church community

These take top priority. They get first place in my schedule.

Next comes my pebbles. For me, they include things like mentoring and coaching other women, exercising, preparing healthy meals, getting enough rest, and quiet moments of reflection—still very needed, but not as foundational as the big rocks.

Then there’s the sand. In my life these include gardening, reading, traveling, hobbies, social media. These are enjoyable and can even be fruitful in their own way, but they aren’t the foundation my life should be built on.

The point isn’t to avoid the sand altogether—it’s to make sure the rocks and pebbles are firmly in place first.

Take note that for the Christian life, the small pebbles and even all the sand particles are still beneficial, good things. I’m not advocating for making room in your life for any unfruitful endeavors or unhealthy leisure activities. Your rocks, pebbles and sand will be different than mine, and that is fine and good, but all the things we are filling our jar with should be beneficial things.  And then out of those good things, we need to prioritize.

This reminds me of the story of Mary and Martha in the Bible. Martha was busy with “good things”. She was rushing around trying to get some food together to serve Jesus. She had invited him in, so of course she wanted to be hospitable. It seems noble and good to serve Him some food, as He is a guest in her home after all. But sadly, she missed out on the most important thing – sitting at the feet of Jesus.

^{Luke 10:38} Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. ³⁹ And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching.⁴⁰ But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” ⁴¹ But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, ⁴² but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

I can relate to Martha in this story, because each day, there are so many activities clamoring for my attention. It’s easy to get caught up in the busyness, and forget the most important things. It’s tempting to turn on my phone and check facebook “just for a few minutes” before reading my Bible. But if we spend time on our “sand” first, then what so often happens is that we end up filling up all of our time with sand and leave out the rocks and pebbles of the most important things. Facebook is not necessarily wrong to spend time on in and of itself, but if it is taking the place of the more important things, then it’s got to get out of the jar until the rocks and pebbles are in place.

There are so many wonderful things we can spend our time on in this life. Good things, beautiful things, helpful things, fruitful things. But we must not fill our jar with so much sand that we miss out on the rocks and pebbles.

So take a moment to reflect:

• What are your big rocks?
• Do your days reflect those priorities?
• Are the most important things getting your best time and energy?

List out your “to-do’s”, and make sure that the most important things get done before spending time on your not-so-important ones. Rocks before pebbles, and pebbles before sand.

I will never have enough time on this earth to do all that I want to do. Too many places to go, things to do, ideas to explore. But we all have time for the most important things.

Mark 12:28-31: “Which commandment is the most important of all?” ²⁹ Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.³⁰ And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ ³¹ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Be fruitful, healthy, happy. Intentional.

And get those big rocks in the jar first.