There is the story about a bar of soap named Soapie and a sponge named Spongee. Spongee had a great relationship with Soapie. They seemed to complement each other perfectly. Soapie was immaculately white, solid and smelled nice. When at play with Spongee, he got slippery and made lots of rainbow coloured balls. Spongee on the other hand was very flexible, rough and had a lot of holes. He was quite inquisitive. He had a way of picking up all sorts of things and hiding some in his pockets.

One day, he got himself covered in some smelly, sticky substance. He tried to shake himself free of the substance. But the harder he tried, the more of the substance he got on himself till he was completely covered with it. He wondered what he would tell Soapie, his friend. He knew Soapie’s first question would be ‘Where did you go without me?’ Now he felt very bad and did not want to see Soapie. He wondered how they would be able to play together again. He felt dirty and very different from spotless Soapie.

Soapie found him hiding under a small shrub just as it began to rain. Spongee had no choice but to tell his friend what had happened. Before long, Spongee was in tears as he recounted his miserable experience. His friend hugged him and tried to comfort him. Soon those beautiful rainbow balls started forming. Then Spongee noticed something else. Some of the sticky substance was coming off as the rain poured on them both. The more Soapie hugged him, the more the sticky substance disappeared. Soon it was all gone and he looked brand new. His joy and excitement knew no bounds as he flipped from one end of the field to the other. His embrace with Soapie had done the magic. It had taken off the smelly, sticky substance and had made him clean again. What he was running from was what brought him his freedom.

Sometimes, we are like Spongee. We get messed up and stained with sin and then we run away from what will bring us freedom. We run from God, we run from His word, we run from church meetings where we can get comfort and healing.

Think about this: The best thing that could happen to a pair of dirty hands is to caress a bar of soap under running water. But if those hands feel they are too dirty to handle the soap, they would remain dirty. Don’t run from the One who would make you clean again no matter how filthy you feel you are. Don’t run from the One who mends broken hearts, when you have been emotionally shattered. Don’t avoid the company of encouragers when you have slipped and fallen. Don’t toss aside the Book of wisdom when you have fallen into the trap of folly.

The devil has a way of making people feel continuously guilty when they have done something wrong. They want to hide from God like Adam did in Eden, forgetting that they are sons and daughters assured of their father’s unfailing love. If we keep yielding to the suggestions of the devil, he can establish in us an attitude of apathy and insensitivity to the Spirit of God causing us to drift further away from God.

Let’s always remember that it is for the messy and sticky situations that the Savior came. So when you have done wrong or your mind is messed up and you don’t feel like going to church, reading the Bible or praying, know that those things you are avoiding are what you need to get back on course.

Jesus says, Come unto me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest (Matt 11:28). This call is irrespective of how you look or feel! There are no terms and conditions, just come in faith.

He asked me to tell you!