What Are The Rocks - Col. 1:10,11
(Proceed to visually act out the following story)`
A Philosophy professor stood in front of his class of over achievers with a gallon size
container on a table and filled it with fist sized rocks. He then asked the class if the
container was full. They all responded, “Yes.” “No,” he said ,and then proceeded to
bring from under the table a bucket with gravel in it and poured it into the container, He
then asked the class again whether the container was full? The class responded, “Probably
not!” “Right.” he said and then he brought another bucket from under the table and
poured sand into the container. For a third time, he asked the class whether the container
was full? The class responded, “No!” “Right again,” said the professor as he brought a
pitcher of water from beneath the table and poured it into the container. “Now,” he said,
“the container is full!” He then went on . . .”If the container represents your life, what is
the lesson here?” One energetic student from the back of the class responded, “No matter
how full your life or schedule gets with all the things that you do, there is always room for
more!” “No,” said the professor, “ the lesson is that unless you put the big rocks in first,
you will never get them in at all. The rocks represent the PRIORITIES or the important
things in life.”
This morning I want to consider with you what ought to be the rocks or spiritual priorities
in our lives! What is to be of primary importance and given first attention in the life of a
believer? What spiritual tasks are to tax my energy? What is my divine to do list? I want
to share what I consider to be the top five spiritual priority rocks for every believer and
base then on the text that has also been my life verses. Please turn to Col. 1, verses 10
and 11.- Paul’s prayer for the church at Colosse. I need to tell you that lately, with the
reoccurrence of the cancer, I have had the privilege of returning to these verses to check
and see whether my life is still on track as far as what my priorities ought to be that enable
me to live every day to the fullest. It is with that in mind that I share them with you this
morning and urge you to adopt them as well for your own pilgrimage with the Lord.
(Read Scripture) “That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful
in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; Strengthened with all
might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with
joyfulness.”
Take your notes and let’s go! ROCK #1 - “That you might walk worthy of the Lord” -
Say it with me - “That you might walk worthy of the Lord.” What does that mean? To
walk worthy of the Lord means to walk in such a way as to ascribe worth or worthiness to
the Lord - that is simply to allow my walk or behavior to be an ACT of WORSHIP to the
Lord! I got so excited when I discovered this great truth. I need to make every thought
and every action of every moment of the day an act of worship to the Lord. Think about
it - Brushing your teeth can be an act of worship! As I brush I thank God for the body
that He gave me and the privilege of taking care of it. In the last few weeks I have even
discovered that you can worship the Lord during Chemotherapy! I can praise the Lord
and pray for His healing as the medicine goes into my body. All of life is to be an act of
worship to the Lord - everything we do at work, school, or in the neighborhood - every
thought and action - 24 hours a day, even our sleep at night can be an act of worship -
notice that I said at night lest you think that it is a current option. You see our present
experience of worship that we are engaging in right now is not our only worship - it is the
punctuation of a life of worship that continues through the entire week. If you think that
I’m stretching the point this morning, turn to I Cor. 10:31 and read with me what Paul
tells the church at Corinth. “Whether therefore you eat, or drink, or whatsoever you do,
do all to the glory of God.” To live a life that continually worships the Lord is a great
way to keep your life from sin! Worship crowds out sin! Rock number one is A LIFE
THAT CONTINUALLY WORSHIPS THE LORD.
Say it with me, “That you might walk worthy of the Lord, unto all pleasing. . .” Rock
number two is A LIFE THAT IS LIVED FOR OTHERS - that is what is meant here by,
“unto all pleasing.” The revolution of the Christian life is that Jesus changes us from
self-centered people to people who sacrificially live to benefit and meet the needs of
others. This is the fleshing out of the commandment to love my neighbor - I become the
incarnated life of Christ to every person I encounter. Their needs and their plans take
precedence over my own. Notice that I said “every,” but let me focus for a moment on
one special group whose needs we may tend to overlook and those are the people that are
closest to us - our family. Sometimes in our chaotic rush through life, some of us tend not
to be sensitive to the needs of our children or our spouse and we miss the opportunities
that God gives us to really minister to their needs. We hurry to minister to others and in
the rush we trample the family. Perhaps I am just speaking for myself this morning. I am
a blessed man! After my relationship with Jesus Christ, the greatest blessing that I have is
my family and I thank God for continually reminding me of that and the opportunity and
privilege that I have as husband, dad and grampa to minister to my family. Paul in the
letter to the Philippians put it this way, (2:3). “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain
conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look
not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be
the same as that of Christ Jesus.” So Rock number two is A LIFE THAT IS LIVED
FOR OTHERS.
Say it with me, “That you might walk worthy of the Lord, unto all pleasing, being fruitful
in every good work . . .” Rock number three is A LIFE THAT IS SPIRITUALLY
REPRODUCTIVE! We live lives that demonstrate the life of Christ because every
thought and behavior is an act of worship that is lived out before others. It then follows
that this should result in others placing their faith and trust in Jesus Christ as their Savior
and then growing or being discipled in their faith! Yes, we are talking about Evangelism
and Discipleship[p - the expansion of His kingdom in the lives of others. Every good
work should eventually lead to an opportunity share the Great News with family and
others and welcome them into the kingdom. So Rock number three is A LIFE THAT IS
SPIRITUALLY REPRODUCTIVE!
Say it with me, “That you might walk worthy of the Lord, unto all pleasing, being fruitful
in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.” Rock number four is A
LIFE THAT GETS TO KNOW GOD BETTER AND BETTER. The word “knowledge”
in the text is not a reference to what you pack or accumulate into the space between your
ears. It literally means applied knowledge or truth that changes your life. So the priority
here is to read the Word of God and commune with God in such a way that we get to
know Him better each day and that very experience changes us every day into becoming
more like Him! The proof that I am increasing in the knowledge of God is seen in my
Christlike growth. Yes, rock number four is A LIFE THAT GETS TO KNOW GOD
BETTER AND BETTER.
Say it with me, “That you might walk worthy of the Lord, unto all pleasing, being fruitful
in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God, strengthened with all might
according to His glorious power . . .” Rock number five is simply the means to
accomplish the first four - it is a LIFE THAT IS STRENGTHENED WITH HIS
POWER! This is the HOW of it all. There is no way that any of us in our own strength
and with our own resources can live the life we have described so far. The Christian life is
a supernatural life and therefore requires supernatural power - and there is only one
Source for that power - God The Holy Spirit!
Most of you are familiar with a Pentathlon where a competitor needs to be competent in
the following five events: cross country, 300 meter swim, steeplechase, pistol shooting
and fencing.. It does the competitor no good to be an expert in just one or two of the
events; he needs to be a master in them all if he is to win. Your Life this morning is a
DIVINE PENTATHALON where you by the grace of God need to be the best at a life
that continually worships the Lord, a life that is lived for others, a life that is spiritually
reproductive, a life that gets to know God better and better and a life that is strengthened
with His glorious power.
Say it with me, “That you might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful
in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God, unto all patience and
longsuffering with joyfulness.” One last note that hinges on the last word of this great
text - JOYFULNESS! Giving daily attention to the spiritual priorities in life is not to be
undertaken as a drudgery or seen as a mundane duty. The joy here is what He does in the
process. Focusing on His priorities is the very means that God uses to bring His endless
overwhelming Joy to our lives. In this day when it is so easy to focus on what is wrong
and not going to well either nationally or personally, God gives us the glorious option of
focusing on His priorities for our lives and that brings His joy! I can testify to that this
morning. There is a song that lately has become my testimony - It beautifully says, “After
all I’ve been through, I still have His Joy!” .
