Pastor’s October Message
Dear Friends and Family of Hilton Baptist Church,
One image of God that is a favorite among many is that God is a “rock”. I don’t think it is
necessary to tell you that God is not literally a rock, but rather this idea is meant to be a
metaphor.
This image of God being a rock emerges several times throughout the Psalms. Perhaps the
most well-known verse that refers to God as a rock is Psalm 18:2:
The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock…
The question I’d like you to consider is this – If God is your rock, how big a rock is He in
your life?
You may be familiar with this story that has been around a long time. I’ve heard different
versions of it, but the lesson it teaches remains the same.
A professor places a big empty jar, a few large rocks and a pile of small pebbles on
a table in front of his class. The professor then pours all the small pebbles into the
jar and then asks the class how many of the large rocks will fit in the remaining
available space. The students take a few guesses, but the professor is only able to
fit two large rocks into the jar.
The professor then dumps everything out of the jar until it is empty once again.
This time the professor fills the jar with the large rocks first. Then the professor
begins to pour in the pebbles into the jar and as they filled in the empty spaces between
the large rocks they all fit.
The moral of the story is this: If you place all the small unimportant things in your life
first, there will not be enough room for the larger important things. However, if you
prioritize the large important things first, the smaller not-as-important things will fill in
the gaps.
Now back to my question – how big a rock is God in your life? Does God get put into
your life as a first priority? Or do you squeeze all the little unimportant things into your
life first and then hope that there will be room for God later?
Is there a significant part of your day that is spent with God or does He only get whatever
limited space you have remaining? Is attending church negotiable or is it a priority?
If some of the important “big rocks” in your life are not in the jar and you are wondering
why they don’t fit, maybe it is time to examine which lesser important pebbles are taking
up too much space.
Be Well, Be Still,
Dan