Butterfly

“This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” 2 Corinthians 5:17

It never ceases to amaze me how a caterpillar can be crawling around eating the tender young plants in my garden one day, then, before you know it, it returns as a beautiful butterfly flittering around on the blossoms. Metamorphosis. It’s the scientific word used to describe this mysterious and incredible transformation.

As God’s children, we all undergo a metamorphosis of sorts. Paul writes in Corinthians that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. Recently I began to think about how very true this is. I had an opportunity to meet someone who bore an uncanny resemblance to the caterpillar I once was. This encounter was not only an opportunity to pray for someone, it made me think that if the new me met the old me in a dark ally, I would hardly recognize myself. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to make something of myself. Not hardly. It’s just that I realized how much knowing God has molded me into the person I am today.

The day I chose His ways over mine, I emerged from my cocoon and began my new life in Christ. The old life was gone. A new life had begun. No doubt, I am still a work in process which will continue until the day I see Him face to face. But just as the butterfly will never return to its former life as a caterpillar, I will never again be the person I once was. I am a new person in Christ striving day by day to be transformed into His image.