Sponges

I was chided recently for saying a friend of mine was a sponge. I meant it in the nicest way, of course, but I guess the others who heard the comment didn't understand what I meant. Some of us (perhaps not myself as much as I'd like), have a gift for soaking in the truths of God's Word being more apt to listen than to speak. I was truly complimenting my friend on her ability to do just that. I think we can all take a lesson from the sponge.

A sponge (not the sea creature, but the kitchen tool) is used to clean things, but it's defining characteristic is its ability to absorb liquid. If we think of ourselves as sponges, we will see that we all absorb whatever we expose ourselves to. As does my friend, God's Word should be the chief "liquid" we fill ourselves with. That way when squeezed, whether by the pressures of life and the world, or by allowing ourselves to be used in service, what will come out, but God's wisdom?

There are two dangers with being a sponge. The first, I've already hinted at. We have to be careful what we absorb. Now, I have to confess that I love country music, especially country love songs, but I refrain from absorbing too much of them because I've found that my thoughts turn inward as a single gal wanting to find that special someone like the songs describe. My ability to wait for God's best, my ability to sense and pray for or meet the needs of others, and most of all, my desire to serve and love Him above all else are all directly affected by how much I take in of this particular "liquid." Sappy chick flicks and even Christian romance novels can have some of the same effects, so I limit my diet of those as well. What I'm saying is, we have to be careful how much of these seemingly harmless things we take in. However purely they may present the love of a man and a woman and give us an example to follow in the future, we must be careful to not live in that future by soaking too much in the thoughts they inevitably bring to mind. Of course, I don't even need to mention those things that are obviously harmful to put in our minds, but for the sake of those who aren't tempted by the same "liquids" as I, there are plenty of things out there that we should avoid for the sake of keeping the sponges of our minds pure.

Secondly, the danger in being a sponge is never allowing yourself to be squeezed. A sponge that sits in a shallow dish of water for a long period of time will begin to mold and smell bad. There's a limit to how much a sponge can absorb before needing to release. That point is called saturation. The American church is full of saturated people, sitting in the dish of Bible teaching, but never putting themselves in God's hands to get squeezed. Sure, the pressures of life squeeze us some and we hope that the Word is saturating us at the time so that we will respond with wisdom, but I'm talking about being squeezed in service. There is so much work to be done, but so many of us are stinky saturated sponges unfit to be used because we have never been squeezed. I pray we will learn to give more thus making room for us to absorb more.

Be a sponge. Be careful what you fill yourself with. Take a good inventory of the things that fill your mind. Are they things you would want coming out of you when you get squeezed? Determine to fill yourself with God's wisdom through reading, studying and listening to God's Word. Then, ask God where He wants to squeeze you...do you need to volunteer to work with the youth or keep the nursery at church? Do you need to go on a mission trip or teach a Bible study? Maybe you should be mentoring a younger believer or working in an inner city mission church like the ones we will pair up with for Houston Project. Maybe you need to participate in an evangelistic training and outreach or visit the nursing home and bring some joy to the lonely. Maybe all of the above. It's a continuous cycle...being filled and squeezed. May you find the joy of being a sponge, filled and squeezed by God Himself.