The transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly is awesome. It is a part of God’s ginormous creation that is really cool to see. The caterpillar crawls on and on for a good while in its life-cycle. Some of them are ugly. Some of them are dangerous. But in due time they begin to digest themselves in a cocoon. Give it a while and out comes pure beauty. So let’s look at it this way: there is an ugly/dangerous caterpillar, then a gross yet fantastic process, and the result is a beautiful butterfly.
Our spiritual state is the same way. In Romans 12:1-2 Paul said, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies… holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” We are to give ourselves to the Lord. We are to give ourselves to Him in holiness. But how can we give ourselves to God and be acceptable? Paul answered that. “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Paul says that we have to be transformed from this world. We have to undergo a major change. There are three parts to the transformation process.
First, we start off as an ugly/dangerous caterpillar. When we were in sin, we were ugly. Sin is dangerous. It leads to death. Our lives spent in sin are not pleasing or beautiful to God. God hates sin. So we have to see our need to transform from ugly in sin to beautiful in holiness.
Next, we have to go through a gross but fantastic process. Sin is ugly. Facing our sins is ugly. It is gross. It is not pleasant nor easy. But the fantastic part is that we are changing. We know that we are leaving sin behind and are beginning to turn our life into a beautiful one for God. Dealing with sin is nasty and getting rid of it is hard. But it brings about so much joy and hope.
Finally, the transformation is complete. We are no longer in sin. We are no longer guilty. We are no longer in fear of Hell. We are pure and holy in the sight of God. God has changed us, transformed us, and made us what He wants us to be. It is beautiful. It is wonderful. Thanks be to God for this awesome transformation!
We need to remember, though, that Satan is trying to transform us back into the caterpillar. He doesn’t like it when we are butterflies. We cannot let him. We cannot conform to the world. We must stay transformed from the world. We can do that only with God’s help.
Do not conform yourself to this world. Be TRANSFORMED!
A Cord of Blue 