Sponge

 

I washed our cars today. I got out my favorite sponge that I’ve had for at least 15 or 20 years and gave both cars a good bath.  I thought about the sponge while I worked. It’s useless as long as it’s dry. Once it has absorbed some water, the sponge can be put to good use.

 

We are like the sponge. We’re dry and useless for God until we allow Him to fill us with His Spirit. We can be as active as ants in all sorts of ministries but, if God is not filling us, we are just like the dry sponge. We need to be open to God’s love and the touch and guidance of His Spirit in our prayer time, in our reading and hearing His word, and in the events of our daily lives. When we are filled with the Spirit, we then have the responsibility of being useful implements for God and not just soaking up His gifts and presence for our own benefit.  Whatever we do, let us do it with love, as Paul reminds the Corinthians.

 

“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing, If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing” (1 Cor 13:1-3).