Christians and Sponge Cake

I love sponge cake. Well, I love all cake. But I do like sponge cake a lot. One of the things I like most is how it absorbs the flavor of whatever you put on it, making it something entirely new. Strawberries, for example. Make a strawberry shortcake, with a nice strawberry sauce and whipped cream, and watch as your sponge cake turns red as it soaks in all that flavor.

Man. Now I want strawberry sponge cake.

But there's a point to this. Just as a sponge cake absorbs that flavor and becomes a new treat (and let's face it... as delicious as it is alone, it is a bit plain), people too absorb what's around them. We soak in the flavor of those with whom we surround ourselves. We begin to reflect the culture around us.

Maybe that's why Proverbs 13:20 says "He who walks with wise men will be wise, But the companion of fools will be destroyed."

We are not unchanged, unaffected, by the people around us. We are changed, for the better or worse. This is doubly so when it comes to our spiritual lives. A life touched by Christ cannot be unchanged; we must allow ourselves to soak in His influence through the Spirit, being renewed and changed into something new.

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. (Romans 12:2)

How are you flavoring your life? With the love and fellowship of fellow believers, learning and growing in Christ? With the renewal of your mind by the movement of the Spirit of God within you? Or by the foolish ways of this world?