How Spongy Are You?

How are you and Spongebob alike?

.

Never thought about it?

.

You should. We have more in common with him than his blunders and silliness. In fact, we were created just like him.

We humans are living sponges. We tend to absorb the life and influence of whatever we're immersed in. You can quickly tell where someone's passion lies when you give them a little squeeze. What comes out?

.

The sports enthusiast (i.e."nut") will rattle off the batting averages and touchdowns of his favorite teams. The celeb-stalker can tell you the birthplace of J. Lo's latest husband and who in Hollywood just had lipo. The serious student oozes with recently acquired knowledge crammed into his brain for tomorrow's test.

.

None of those is wrong in itself. It's just insufficient.

.

Augustine said, "Man was made for God, and he will never find happiness until he finds it in the One who made him."

.

Notice he did not say man needs to discover God. Many people have discovered God; some have even crept into his shadow through salvation in Christ. But how many of those can honestly say they seek their happiness in Him alone?

.
Instead, we hear comments more like these:

.

"I'm a Christian and everything, but I don't want to go, you know...overboard with it."

.
"Why are some people so...well...into God? Isn't that carrying the holy thing a little too far?"

.

"I want God to be a part of my life, but I can't say I want Him to be my whole life. I have other things I'm interested in."

.

How far we enlightened 21st-century believers have fallen from what God intended to be the norm for human beings created in his image.

.

We were designed to be filled with God, immersed in His presence, as Tozer says "living in a state of unbroken worship."

.

When you immerse a sponge in any liquid, the fluid becomes a part of it, filling every crevice, making the once-empty sponge a conduit for the liquid.

.

And God created us to do the same. True happiness is only found when every crevice is so filled with the presence of God that there is no room for anything else.

.

We substitute fun, temporary thrills, and complacency for the joy God designed us to embrace---believing that is all there is and disappointed at the realization.

.

Most people spend their lives soaking up everything BUT what will really fill them and when squeezed, there is nothing but dust.

.

Maybe you know you're empty. You already know nothing seems to satisfy for long. If so, you're on the right track.

.

You were designed to feel that way, because until God becomes your life, you're only dabbling at the edges. There are few people more unhappy than half-hearted Christians. You weren't meant to live only half-filled. God invites you to jump in. Submerge yourself in Him, His truth, His ways, His life and His purpose for yours.

.

So go ahead. Be a sponge. Immerse yourself. Just like Spongebob, that's what you were created to do.

.