one small sponge... and a complex, magnificent sea

I recently read a blurb about the livelihood of sponges.  Sponges, in their natural habitat, maintain a constant water flow through their bodies in order to survive.  Water allows one small sponge to obtain food and oxygen, to reproduce, to move about, and to remove all waste.  Together, both sponge and the water in which it lives, collaborate "inside" one another... the sponge dwells in the water, and the water dwells in the sponge.  They cooperate in tandem.  As a result, the sponge is able to exist while also benefitting many other sea creatures.  Furthermore, sponges can be found worldwide, from the tropics to the polar regions.

Why do I share this?  Well, here's the thing.  In no way does one small sponge compare to the depths of the sea.  You see, a sponge must soak in its sea water to survive.  But the sea does not require one small sponge to operate or even exist.  No, the sea is much more complex and magnificent.

Similar is our relationship with the Lord Almighty.  Our beings are like one small sponge.  Our soul thirsts for the God of our Salvation and His healthy living water.  In order to survive, we require Him to flow through us - to abide in us in order to live our healthiest amid His holiness.  We need Jesus every second to live... dwelling in Christ as He dwells in us.  Cooperating with His Spirit in tandem.  Soaking in His grace while moving in agreement with His life-giving Word.  Yes, we are called to be porous and open - always purposed to benefit and glorify His great throne.  As such, we must be willing to venture out wherever He brings us. We must endure every drastic temperature and/or trial, no matter how strange or uncomfortable.  For God longs for us to become one with The One... absorbing His Way, His Truth, and His Life as our own.  He is our home and we are His temple. Eating, breathing, ministering, obeying, sacrificing - all for His sake.  All for His complex, magnificent Glory!

Being mindful of all this, let me begin again...

I recently read a blurb about the livelihood of sponges.  Did you know that one small sponge is able to produce up to three times more oxygen as well as more organic matter than it consumes?  Furthermore, did you know that one small sponge is capable of aiding, impacting, housing, feeding, and defending thousands and thousands of species?  The contribution of one small sponge to both sea creatures and habitats is quite notable and significant.

And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:6-10)

Yes, one small sponge... dwelling in a complex, magnificent sea!  Notable.  Significant.
Just thought you'd like to know.

Blessings!

~Victoria

© The Devoted Woman | Victoria Anderson