I keep a jar of jelly on my bookshelf in a place where it is always in my sightline.  It serves as a reminder to stay focused on what really matters instead of wasting my life.  The idea comes from a story in a book by Pastor John Avant titled The Passion Promise.

“The storm was blowing, and Colonel William Post had a job to do.  He was in charge of receiving all the incoming supplies for the ground forces.  Among these supplies were tons of food that came in every day.  One day Colonel Post received a message from the Pentagon requesting he account for forty cases of missing grape jelly.  The colonel sent a soldier to investigate the missing jelly; the soldier reported back that it couldn’t be found. Colonel Post made his report and assumed that would be the end of it.  After all, it was just grape jelly.

He assumed wrong.  The Pentagon continued to press him, pointing out that they needed to close the books for the month, and jelly just couldn’t just vanish like that.  Finally, they ordered him to find the jelly!

The colonel had had enough by then and sent back this response: ‘Sirs, you must decide.  I can dispatch the entire army to find your missing jelly or kick Saddam out of Kuwait, but not both!’  He got no reply.”  

(The Passion Promise, John Avant, Multnomah Press, 2004)

Easily Distracted, Wasting Time

I find myself easily distracted with a fragile, short attention span.  I am much like Dug, the dog from the movie Up.  It usually doesn’t take much to divert my attention from the task at hand.  You may be like me and suffer from the same condition.

Most of the time, the distractions are not bad things.  They are worthwhile and beneficial tasks, but maybe someone else should do them, or maybe I should do them some other time.  Can you relate?

The same thing can happen to families, churches, businesses, or teams.  In the business world calls it mission drift.  It happens when an organization gets too busy doing things that they forget who they are and why they exist.  

Back on Track

As a result, let me challenge you to evaluate the priorities of your life.  What kinds of jelly jars are you chasing?  These may seem to be important at the moment, but are you fulfilling God’s purpose for your life or merely wasting time?  Are you seeking first the Kingdom of God and HIS righteousness (Matthew 6:33)?

Matthew 6:33 – But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, 
 and all these things will be added to you.