January 15th, 2010
I’m a sponge. I’ve been one most of my adult life. Now being a sponge isn’t always a bad thing. A Twinkie is a sponge, right? ...and they are pretty good! When you’re surrounded by Godly people, soaking in what they have to offer, that is a good thing, too. I love to hang out with people who love the Lord. You can just sense it in the room, and it gives a great feeling. Soaking in God’s glory is awesome, and trying to learn all you can about God, well, that's the best thing of all.
But soaking up other people’s walk with the Lord and then calling it your own is when being a sponge turns bad. I have been guilty of that at times more times then I want to admit. I’m so blessed to have a Godly husband who has walked with the Lord every day I’ve known him. He’s the spiritual leader in the house, and I must admit that I love letting him lead. But in doing so, sometimes I’ve just been complacent and soaked up his spirituality for myself.
Did you know that kitchen sponges are the #1 source of germs in the whole entire house? Why? Those little crevices that make a sponge good for cleaning also make it a nice home for germs. When you wipe up counters or dishes with a dirty sponge, it only transfers bacteria from one item to the other. The Good Doctor’s Guide to Colds and Flu recommends you should “wet your sponge and then pop it in the microwave for two minutes to eliminate the germs that lurk inside the crevices.”
As I contemplated this whole idea of being a sponge, I started to make some parallels with life and the Christian walk. If I sit too long without being cleaned, germs creep in. Sometimes we are on cruise control with God, going through life at 55 mph, and we don’t take time to really confess sin in our life. Sometimes it’s easier to just forget about that, because seeing your own faults is not a fun thing to do. When the ‘germs’ get in, sometimes we don’t even realize it. Life looks and feels the same as it always had, maybe even better. But I’m reminded that just like the sponge, if I’m not “wrung out” and cleaned, I can be worthless. Have you ever tried to do ministry when you knew your own life wasn’t right with God? I have. I’ve tried to go through the motions, hoping no one would notice. When I do that, I become ineffective, just like a dirty sponge.
How does a kitchen sponge get cleaned? In the microwave….through major heat. Those micro waves penetrate every inch of that sponge because it’s completely enveloped in the oven. Sometimes the microwaves of life are trials that God allows us to go through to draw us closer to Him. Sometimes the ‘heat’ is just facing yourself in the mirror and realizing you don’t know the person you’re looking at, then doing something about it. In my life, it was just realizing I needed to do more for God and allow Him to do more through me. He’s given me gifts that I wasn’t using, and I was becoming dirty, complacent, and full of germs…ineffective for Him.
The cool thing is that once a sponge has gone through ‘the purification process’ it is then ready once again to be used. I’m sure glad God doesn’t throw us ‘sponges’ away when we get dirty. When we ask Him, He cleans all our little crevices and allows us to be used once again for Him, at full capacity.
So like I said, being a sponge isn’t always a bad thing. I pray you’ll soak up God’s wisdom and truths each day while at the same time getting rid of the germs that are starting to accumulate. I know God is challenging me with this same thing...to be an anti-bacterial germ-repelling, Jesus loving sponge!
Psalm 119:9 – How shall a person cleanse his way? By putting God’s word into action.
Proverbs 16:2 – All the ways of man are clean in his own eyes; but the Lord weighs the spirits.
And I love that simple old song, "Clean Hands, Pure Heart"...those 4 words ring so true!
We bow our hearts. We bend our knees
O Spirit come make us humble.
We turn our eyes from evil things
O Lord we cast down our idols.
Give us clean hands; give us pure hearts.
Let us not lift our souls to another.
O God let us be a generations that seeks
That seeks your face, O God of Jacob
---Beth Banfill
www.GodandMe2theMax.com