From Caterpillars to Butterflies

Recently Pastor Rebecca bought some caterpillars and put them in a netted cage in our house so that the students at Victory Christian School could watch them go through the process of metamorphosis. It was interesting to watch them go from what many would consider fairly ugly little creatures to beautiful butterflies in just a matter of a few days.

Webster’s dictionary defines metamorphosis as, “A marked and more or less abrupt developmental change in the form or structure of an animal (as a butterfly or frog) occurring subsequent to birth or hatching”. It is also defined as, “A striking alteration in appearance, character, or circumstances”. Romans 12:2 says, “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”. The word transformed is the Greek word “metamorphoo”. It means to change, to transfigure, or to transform. Many Christians get saved but never go through the process of transformation by the renewing of their mind by the Word of God. God’s thoughts are higher than our thoughts and His ways are higher than our ways. If you want to “morph” into the person that God wants you to be, then you must do more than pray a sinner’s prayer and come to church once or twice a week. You must meditate on the Word of God until His way of thinking becomes your way of thinking. When you do that, doing what God would want you to do is not just an afterthought, but your first thought. Old habits and ways of talking and doing things are changed. Your life becomes the beautiful life that God intended for you all along. You receive an alteration in character and the way you handle circumstances. You might even look better to the rest of the world, too, because you will be so happy about the changes that occur in your life.

Romans 12:2 in the New Living Translation reads this way, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is”. By the way, unlike the butterfly, our morphing process takes more than a few days. We begin to see changes as soon as we start acting on the Bible, but our process of changing will last until Jesus comes back. At that time our mind and bodies will go through a glorious and instantaneous change. Until then we have the Word of God to help us think like God thinks so we can begin to live the wonderful life that God wants us to live!

God bless you,
Pastor Jeff