life as a sponge

...
Let's think about a sponge...

As a sponge is immersed in water, it soaks up the liquid. It becomes soft and pliable and easy to use. Once you take the sponge out of the water, it starts to dry out and become hard. In fact, the longer it remains out of the water, the harder it becomes. Dry, hard, eventually becoming brittle - definitely unusable for anything a sponge is designed to be used for. And the harder the sponge, the longer it takes to absorb the liquid once it is re-immersed.

Now let's think of ourselves as sponges...

... and the liquid represents the presence of God in our lives. As a sponge needs to be immersed in the water to become usable and effective, we, too, need to be immersed in a relationship with God on a regular (daily!) basis. This keeps us full of His love and filled with His spirit. It keeps us pliable and usable.

And as with the sponge, if we remain out of His presence for any great length of time, we become hard and brittle - and unusable. The longer we stay out, the longer it may take for the absorbency level to reach full potential again.

The moral to my little analogy is; remain in Him, and He will remain in you. You can only be used by Him and for His glory if you know Him, "absorb" Him, and remain in Him.

And let me leave you with one more thought...

If we are sponges,
we will naturally absorb anything we are immersed in.