Perhaps yours is as well? From conception to death our sponges take in and take in and then take in some more. We are creatures that crave knowledge for good or evil. So, we come into the world seeking that stimulation. We, parents, are responsible for what goes into our kids minds. We, spouses, friends, and enemies are also responsible for what goes into the minds of others. Bottom line is we are to the world, as Christians, sponges that need to be wrung out and used to saturate the world around us with Jesus. I've taken in plenty of the world over the years since becoming a Christian. You have as well. What do we do with all that experience, training, and application of this information? We have the choice, as seen in history, of doing good or doing evil with all that is within us. I'm talking to the Christian. The Bible is full of examples of men and women who were called to be sponges for God and failed to do so. I'm no different. I'd love to tell you that I've stopped doing that which is displeasing to God. But that wouldn't be true for me.
Sponges are empty and light when first encountered. They come in all shapes and sizes. We tend to think of sponges as something or someone who takes rather than gives. I know, me too! I've done my share of taking and it's sometimes necessary to be filled up before you and I are any good at all. We can be filled up with the world's program or we can be filled up with God's program. God is love and unable to do evil. Satan, on the other hand is evil and incapable of loving. Many people come into our lives and deliver from one or the other our basic beliefs and we become filled sponges. What happens when the sponge gets filled? The sponge begins to seep and that which is within the sponge leaks out into and around our world. If your sponge is filled with God's love then you will leak love to the world. Conversely, if your sponge is filled with the world (Satan's kingdom), you will leak that into the same world. Many call themselves Christian and then evidence of the real nature of their heart leaks out showing their real content.
I haven't figured out all of life. I've figured out that keeping it simple is essential to my sanity and application of God's love as I live among those deemed my neighbor. Jesus tells us to be poured out into the world around us so that the hope (in my sponge) can be seen by mankind so that they may be saved. I'm not always good at that and the enemy is there ready to tell me how disqualified I am to preach the Good News sinner that I am. There is no better time, no better place and no better person. We are all sinners fallen from God's intended purpose in His plan. We are not disqualified from taking into our sponges the love of God and then leaking that to the world. We are qualified by Christ who lived, died and rose so that we could be born again. We are qualified to bring what we didn't and don't deserve to other beggars who are seeking the same. Sometimes we leak food to the hungry, shelter to the homeless while at other times we care for the widow and the orphan. In the end we leak salvation to the lost. The Great Commission is always your choice.
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