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BRAVER THAN LIONS
Sam Stringer
Jan 19, 2025
And He said, "What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of men,
proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit,
lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man."
Mark 7:20-23
Years ago in one of my counseling classes, I heard a concept that has stuck with me regarding the
pressures of life and the sin within; I hope you will take this idea to heart, too. My teacher asked our class
the question, “When you squeeze a sponge, why does water come out?” Now, the answer that came
back immediately was pretty much what a lot of us reckoned: “Because you squeezed it.” That makes
sense, but here’s the problem: when you squeeze a dry sponge, nothing comes out. You see, the reason
that water comes out of a sponge when you squeeze it is only because there’s already water inside of it.
When Jesus spoke to his audience in this passage, He was touching upon an impression that they, too,
had wrong. We are not sinners because of our circumstances, our stresses, our pressures or poor
resources. We are sinners because (drum roll, please) …we are sinful. We are sinners by nature. You
and I live in a world full of competing philosophies with the Bible that rule out the matter of sin and
instead replace that with any number of causes for the problems of the world, and the problems within
ourselves. Hear Jesus again, though: “What comes out of a man, that defiles a man.” Sin may be
triggered by our pressures, but it is not caused by our pressures.
When my children were younger, numerous times I would try to drill into them this piece of advice: no
one makes you mad but you. No one makes you sad but you. This was often spoken to them after they’d
come in wailing accusations against one another and claiming, “He (or she) makes me so mad!” No,
child, you make yourself mad. You wouldn’t get mad if it wasn’t within you already. I like to think that one
of the greatest Gospel tracts out there is nothing more than a mirror, because the people that come out
of us, those wretched sinners each in our own ways, they make a wonderful case to us as to why we
need Jesus as our Savior. Be thankful if God shows you your sin and convicts you over it, because part
of His redemptive work is just that. Could you imagine going your whole life blaming everything on
everyone else or on the things you’ve been through and never seeing the sinner or labeling the sin for
what it is? Many will do just that. I’m not discounting difficult circumstances or minimizing the hurt it can
cause, but I hope you will consider that there’s also a person deeply in need of Jesus embedded in every
moment of our lives. Nothing negates our responsibility to live for God, though we will disobey countless
times in our journeys.
When life squeezes your sponge, it isn’t a call to whip yourself or try harder. It’s time, rather, to turn to the
cross, whether that be the first time or the 50,000 th time. What joy it is to know that you are a sinner but
where your sin has abounded, His “grace abounds much more” (Rom. 5:20). God loves you so much that
He wants you to see your sin, to feel the pain of having betrayed that relationship, but to know that
focusing on yourself is not the answer. Center your attention on Jesus when all is said and done,
remembering His grace and mercy despite your unworthiness.
Is your sponge getting squeezed in life right now? How is your sponge getting squeezed? Don’t stop
there. What is God trying to show you? What is He trying to extract from you? How is He trying to make
you more like Jesus? He has a plan and a purpose for the things He allows along the way. Be braver
than lions as you follow Him.
Sam Stringer
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