Transformation

Butterfly © toniambs via freeimages.com

I wrote this for The Celebration blog several years ago. It has been on my mind for a few weeks, so I decided to post it here. I am still being changed! Every day I become a little more like Jesus. I will never be perfect, but just to know that I don't have to stay broken and discouraged is so amazing!

Watching my mom flip through magazines gave me something to focus on as I completed the exercises in physical therapy. (This was several years ago.) Suddenly, she stopped on one page.

"Look at the stages of the butterfly. Maybe that would make a good post." I nodded and filed that away in my memory bank for later.

The butterfly begins as an egg. It doesn't look like much to begin with. Guess what? When we are babies, we have much to learn!

After a while the egg becomes a caterpillar. A caterpillar's main job is to eat. As young Christians, we, too, are hungry for the Word. The Word gives us life and promises that help us during our life.

In the next stage, the caterpillar gets wrapped in a waxy cocoon. Nature surrounds it with a covering as it matures. During this time of shelter, things happen. This reminds me of the times that we pray to God in our homes. There's no words being spoken from the pulpit, but it’s a conversation between you and God. Even you can't fully understand the work that God is doing in your heart. Now that Christians know what the Word is for, they begin to apply it in their lives. The Word breaks all of the things that have held us back, transforming us little by little into the image of Him.

The final stage is a beautiful butterfly, but it only happened because of a process. If the butterfly hadn't had to push and wiggle to get out of the cocoon, it never would have reached its true potential. Whether you realize it or not, we need people in our lives who are willing to push us when we need it. God specifically talks about the need to be softened and shaped by others in the Bible.

~ Jeremiah 18:3-4 “So I did as he told me and found the potter working at his wheel. But the jar he was making did not turn out as he had hoped, so he crushed it into a lump of clay again and started over.” (NLT)

We can have an exciting, loving, and fulfilling relationship with God if we go through the process of change!

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