The Jar of Marbles
Creating Margin In Time
See your week as just that, a week. This means don’t over plan your week. The average person tends to plan for more than one week can hold or handle. You are one person who can only do so much in a week’s time. Have you ever thought about how many hours you have in a week? If not, let me help you…you have 168 hours to work with. While that might at first seem like a lot when you begin to break it into activities such as work and sleep, you will soon find that 168 hours is not enough for what you wish to do in a period of one week.
That brings me to the next question to ponder. Have you ever wondered why some people get more done in their week than you? It begins with how you see a week, how you envision a week. In other words, the vision you have for a week. See your week for what it is. It is one week, 7 days, and 168 hours. See what your week is not. It is not a month; it is not 30 or 31 days, nor is it what seems like an endless number of hours. Once you have a true picture of a week, you’ll stop trying to cram more and more into this short and limited amount of time. Seeing the week for what it is will increase the value you apply to any given week. Keep in mind that it is yours to use however you desire.
The Jar of Marbles
I’m going to try to tell you the story of the marbles. Before I do, this story is modified for this lesson on “margin,” just in case you recognize parts and pieces of it. The story tells of a guy who did not value his time for whatever reason. So, he accepted a challenge which consisted of him purchasing a jar. Next, based on the assumption that he would live to be 80 years old, he calculated the number of weeks he had left in life. For example, let’s say he was 40. This would give him 2080 weeks (40 years * 52 weeks) left in life. Next, he purchased 2080 marbles to place in the jar. Each Saturday that passed, he would take out one marble and throw it in the trash. This would represent that the time he uses is depleted and there is no way to replenish it. At the same time, when you waste a week of time, it is equivalent to a person throwing time in the trash. The week before his 81st birthday, he drew out the last marble. On and after his 81st birthday, he continued the challenge, but this time he added marbles back into the jar.
How would you feel if you were the man and you had 2079 marbles left in your jar?
How would you feel if you were down to just 100 marbles?
What would a week be worth to you, if you only had 30 marbles remaining?
This concept is what I use each week to remind others, my family, and even myself of how important each week is; how important life is and how important having “margin” is.
Let’s think about it from the opposite angle. How do you think this man felt as marbles were added to his jar? I would imagine he was grateful each time God gave him one more marble. I think you should adopt this attitude of gratitude. That’s living a life where there is “margin in time” offers. You begin to see the gift in the time you have been given. Let’s not wait until our jar empties and it begins to fill again before we realize what we have been given or had been given. With time, there is no redo or do again. In fact, we might not be as fortunate as to live beyond the estimated number of marbles placed in the jar. “Number your days…” [1] In other words, have a plan for each of your days. Just like Dave Ramsey says give every dollar a name, I say give every hour a name. Therefore, live on purpose, live with intentionality, and above all live with “margin.”
Question: How are you using your week? Do you have a plan for it or are you just letting it slip away?
[1] Psalms 90:12 NIV, Bible.com, accessed April 30, 2024, https://www.bible.com/bible/111/PSA.90.NIV
All Scripture references used by permission, see our Scripture copyrights.
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