"This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun." 1 Corinthians 5:17 (NLT)
When I was a child, I was captivated by nature, especially flying bugs. I loved grasshoppers and bees. But my all-time favorites were butterflies.
I remember one day when I was around 10 years old, climbing my favorite tree in the neighborhood when suddenly I came upon the most wondrous site. I came face-to-face with a cocoon shaking on a branch. To my amazement, a butterfly was struggling to emerge from this cocoon! I was astounded to learn that my favorite butterflies were the result of those funny looking green caterpillars encasing themselves in a self-made cocoon. I truly wondered at the transformation process, the caterpillar became a beautiful butterfly, and I got to see it come to life that special day!
Many years later I discovered that there is a correlation between the transformational process of caterpillars becoming butterflies and the transformational process the Bible talks about and how God changes us.
We learn in 2 Corinthians 5:17 "... that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!" And when this change takes place within our hearts, we are living in the truth of Jesus words when He said, "I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God" John 3:3.
With this incredible new relationship with God, we can know the will of God because Jesus is living in our hearts and minds. The Bible says, "For all who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God" Romans 8:14. And Jesus said, "that to all who believed Him and accepted Him, He gave the right to become the children of God" John 1:12. We have broken out of the cocoon of our former lives without God and are now God's beautiful "butterflies" and very special members of His forever family. And now His greatest desire is to lead us daily in His perfect plan for our lives.
Dig Deeper
- Describe a time in your life when you felt like you were in God's will. What do you think caused that for you? How can you be more intentional about discovering and following God's will for your life?
- Can you be honest with yourself to determine if you have ever really emerged from the "spiritual cocoon" and experienced any positive spiritual transformation in your life? If you feel like you haven't emerged yet, what are the next steps you need to take to grow in your faith?
