Naughty Caterpillars or Beautiful Butterflies?

When a butterfly starts its journey, it is a small, helpless caterpillar. The only two things it does is eat and grow. That's similar to a Christian. We must feed on God's word in order to grow in our relationship with Him! Once the caterpillar has eaten and grown, it enters into the chrysalis. Then it changes and grows, until it emerges a beautiful butterfly... or does it?

When a butterfly first emerges, its wings are limp and useless. It is not until the butterfly has done some wok that it can actually use its wings and fly. Christians are similar in a way. We are saved by God's loving grace but the transformation doesn't stop there. The next step we have to do is to be sanctified, by letting the Holy Spirit come in and change us from the inside. Then, we can begin to do God's work.

Now, what if the caterpillar decided one day to be naughty, that the changes were too hard, and that it wasn't going to bother to do all that work? What if it liked being a caterpillar too much, and wanted to stay like that forever? That would be a a silly question, because the caterpillar wouldn't know what being a butterfly is like, and doesn't know that it's actually much better than a caterpillar! But, if it never changed, then it wouldn't reach it's full potential. It would never get to experience the joy of flying around, with gorgeous wings as a butterfly.

We are the same way sometimes, though. God may point out some things to us that need to be changed. If we refuse them, or if we decide it's too hard for us, we will never reach the full potential that God wants for us. We need to allow God to work in us, to help us change into the beautiful creation He has planned for each one of us, and for us to go spread that to others. Let's not be naughty caterpillars, and listen to God.

~Ashley Angeles

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