Absorbent Love

…as a sheep before her shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth. Isa 53:7

I was bent over the bed, bare bottom exposed. “You,” here dad stopped to smack me with the belt, “…will,” another stop, another swat, “…never,” spank, “…lie...”

Before the next stroke came I interrupted the punishment, yanked my pants up, and burst out, “Okay enough. I will never lie again.” Believe me, there were more swats to follow.

At Jesus’ flogging, each stroke came with a word that imparted my sin, “hatred,” crack, “gossip,” thump, “abuse,” rip, “hypocrisy,” crunch. Then came the nails, “lust,” clang, “pettiness,” ching. I am so glad He did not stop in the middle and say, “Okay enough.” Instead He remained silent and absorbed—every—last—sin.

Jesus remained utterly silent while being maimed for my sin. That silence knifes a truth to my heart that mature love is absorbent. With every smack of the whip and each thud in His face He absorbed a little more of my vileness. Now here am I trying to love as I have been loved. I wrestle with temptation and struggle with trials, but by far the most difficult test is absorbing the vileness of others. Can I be gracious when they cause injury with intent? Can I enter their world of darkness and pain and draw some of it away? Do I have absorbent love?

A dry sponge does nothing but push spills around; it must first be saturated then wrung. I am of no use to God until I am saturated with an awareness of my guilt and then had it wrung out of me by the work of the cross. I am left emptied of my sin but humble, malleable, and absorbent to others.

Prayer: Father, let me be a sponge in your hand ready to absorb.