If I should speak, then let it be of the grave that is greater than all my sin; of when justice was served and mercy wins; of the kindness of Jesus that draws me in. O, to tell you my story is to tell of Him.
–-Big Daddy Weave
Psalm 119. Now, I’m not going to copy and paste the whole passage into this post, but this is important to note: with the exception of verses 90, 122, and 132 every verse mentions the law, word, way, statutes, commandments, testimonies, or precepts of God. My point is that there are 176 verses in this chapter; it is the longest chapter in the Bible. With 176 verses to play with, David used only 7 expository words to describe God’s Holy Word. Why those words? Why so often?
David was so filled with the Spirit of God and a desire to be completely engrossed and saturated with God’s words, His commandments, statutes, testimonies, words, precepts, way, and law that all the flowed from Him was just that.
What you are filled with is what will flow from you. By David’s example, we learn that if we are completely soaked with the Word, it will flow from us in everything we say and do: like a sponge, (there’s where the title comes into play).
Sponges start out dry and cracked before they come in contact with water. Really, they are useless for cleaning; if you try to clean with them they will shred or break. Without the water, the sponge has no purpose, no meaning.
But once a sponge is filled with water and the water flows through it, it makes thing clean. Even when a sponge is emptied of its contents, it is still moist and ready to soak up more.
Like sponges, humans are dry and useless without Christ who is the living water. But, once they’re filled, and are saturated and soaked in the words of God, He can then use them to clean up a dirty world. Notice that I did not say that without Christ we are worthless. Every human life has intrinsic value. Every sinner has a savior and every saint has a service.
You know what a full sponge does when you drop it on the floor or throw it against a hard surface? It splashes water everywhere around it. As Christians we are sponges to be dripping with the Word of God. Never let yourself become dry. Be filled with the Spirit and the Word of God, so that when you hit the wall, Christ will explode from you.
Rejoice when you are crushed, for the more you pressurize a sponge, the more water will seep from it. If all that is within you is Christ, when you are put under pressure, He will be all that comes out of you. I’ll tell you right now, it is hard to be mad while quoting a Bible verse, or praising God. The Scriptures say that the joy of the Lord is our strength, and that in the presence of the Lord there is fullness of joy.
We are sponges. Are we dry and useless, or are we filled with the water of life?
As always, thanks for reading.
–the anonymous novelist
