January 24, 2021
While studying for this week’s sermon, I found myself thinking about my childhood science class. As a child, I was fascinated to learn about the amazing process by which a caterpillar changes into a butterfly. Simply stated, a very hungry caterpillar hatches from an egg. The caterpillar, (or larva for you scientifically minded folks), gorges itself with leaves, growing fatter and longer through a series of molts in which it keeps shedding its skin. At a certain point, known only to the the caterpillar, it stops eating, hangs upside down from a branch and spins itself a really cool looking silky cocoon. Within this protective shell, the caterpillar undergoes a radical transformation, eventually emerging as a beautiful butterfly. Basically, the caterpillar dies to itself so the butterfly transformation can take place. Did you realize we Christians experience something kinda similar? Stay with me here. Before we were born again, we were like that caterpillar, living mainly to satisfy our cravings. The caterpillar’s main craving is food while we humans have many cravings. However, broken down to its simplest form, we humans stay busy feeding ourselves in a never-ending quest for satisfaction and fulfillment. Suddenly, just as the caterpillar stops eating and begins to prepare its cocoon, we who have been born again come face to face with the Holy Spirit who convicts us that something better awaits us. Just like the caterpillar who dies to itself while in its cocoon, we Christians died to ourselves as well. Here is where the Christian/butterfly comparison differs. The beautiful butterfly emerges from its cocoon completely mature while the newborn Christian continues to be transformed by the Holy Spirit. While, we won’t see our “butterfly” stage until God takes us home to Him, we do see ourselves being transformed day by day from our sinful self into the image of Jesus Christ. As a wise man once said. “I’m not who I want to be, but praise God I’m also not who I used to be!” Let’s strive to look and sound more like Jesus tomorrow than we did today. Be blessed and be a blessing . . . Brother Andy
