Metamorphosis

Summer days have slipped away. To some people the coolness of fall and the turning of the leaves means it’s time for all things pumpkin spice and pulling sweaters from the bottom drawer, but for us it means that it’s time to dive into a new homeschool year.

This year, I decided to try something different and get us outside every morning before we start any bookwork, to breathe and enjoy nature. The other morning, while my boys and I were at the park, we came across this little beauty and I unexpectedly found myself the student, listening as the Teacher spoke Truth to my heart.

I have always been fascinated by butterflies and I love so many things about them. Watching them float gracefully by, illuminated in summer sun. The wide variety of shapes, sizes, and colours. Their fragility coupled with strength. Not to mention their ability to travel tremendous distances! How is it possible that those delicate, paper-thin wings can carry a monarch butterfly 4,000 -5, 000 kilometers in it’s migration from Canada to Mexico? Pretty amazing!

But I think what stands out to me most about the butterfly is it’s transformation from this…

Into this…

As I was admiring the butterfly and celebrating God’s creative ingenuity, this thought hit me…

When a caterpillar enters it’s chrysalis, it undergoes a complete metamorphosis, emerging as a butterfly – a whole new creature – completely different than it was before. The chrysalis is a place of transformation. A place where the old ends and the new begins. Just as a butterfly begins in the chrysalis, the Cross is where we, as Christ-followers, begin. The Cross is our chrysalis!

“I was one way, and now I am completely different. And the thing that happened in between was Him.”

~Mary Magdalene (The Chosen – TV Series)

When we came to Christ and accepted His gift of salvation, we were made NEW! At the Cross our sins were forgiven and our past was buried. At the Cross, we were set free and the chains that bound us were broken. At the Cross, we were welcomed into God’s family, as His very own precious children. But the Cross is only the beginning – the gateway – to the work of transformation that God wants to do in us.

A caterpillar cannot enter a chrysalis and remain the same; we can’t accept God’s gift of salvation and remain unchanged either. But neither can the butterfly stay in it’s chrysalis. Once it’s transformation takes place, it needs to leave what was behind and learn a new whole way of life and behaviour.

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

Romans 12:2 NLT

What would happen if a butterfly simply went back to living as a caterpillar? It might choose to grovel in the dirt, crawling on its belly as it once did, seeking sustenance from sources that no longer satisfy, but that wouldn’t change the fact that it’s been given wings. That it has a new directive to live by.

The same is true for us. We have been transformed. There is no going back. We have seen the Light. We have accepted the Truth. We have been reborn. But, our metamorphosis isn’t meant to stop there. Just like a wedding is only the first day of the marriage and birth only the first day of life outside the womb, our transformation continues beyond the Cross as we follow Jesus. It is a journey that we embark on the moment we day “yes” to Him and one that continues for the rest of our lives.

I used to think that following Jesus was all about living by a set of “rules” perfectly. And I just never could seem to measure up. I doubted that I was truly a child of God. But that was a lie that the enemy wanted me to believe, to keep me bound in the chains of the past.

Whether we came to Christ as a child, or lived a full life away from Him before accepting salvation, we all still have the “old man”, our flesh with it’s desires and temptations vying for our attention. We will stumble and fall, we will make mistakes, but that doesn’t mean we have returned to our former state. No more than a butterfly could return to being a caterpillar. We’ve simply forgotten who we are and Who we belong to. If we continually surrender to the Holy Spirit’s transformation process, heeding His voice and walking in His ways, He gives us His strength to be victorious over our sinful nature and walk in the abundant life that Jesus promised.

When we accept salvation, the chains of sin are broken and the prison doors are opened for us, but freedom comes when we step through those doors into new life. It comes in the living of each new day embracing the call to take up our own cross and follow in our Master’s footsteps. Laying aside all the things that seek to ensnare us and distract us from our wholehearted pursuit of HIM. Putting off our old life, like a garment, and putting on His.

When I was in my teens, I was gifted a set of WWJD (What Would Jesus Do) bracelets. WWJD merch was trending in youth groups all over at the time and I was thrilled to get mine. But only a short time later, I came across an article linking the trend to a book written in 1896 by Charles M. Sheldon and my curiosity was piqued. I managed to track down a copy of In His Steps in an old used bookstore and sat down to read it. That book had a profound impact on my life, prompting me not only to look differently at my newest accessories, but to ask some deep questions about what it means to really follow Christ.

The word “follow” is a verb. And action word. It’s not a passive word. It requires forward motion. To follow Jesus requires renewing our minds- changing the way we thing by immersing ourselves in His Word – and continually growing in our faith and relationship with Him. It means…

F orgetting what lies behind
O ffering our lives in surrender to Him
L ooking to Him in all things
L istening to His voice
O pening our hearts to His Word
W alking in His footsteps

beatrice giesbrecht

Following Jesus is the path of continual transformation. The metamorphosis of becoming more like Him. And that only comes as we draw nearer to Him, leaning in close and listening to His heart. He’s reaching out His hand and today He asks, “Will you walk with Me?” Would you join me in saying “yes”?

“The greatest question in all of human life is summed up when we ask, ‘What would Jesus do?’ if, as we ask it, we also try to answer it from a growth in knowledge of Jesus Himself. We must know Jesus before we can imitate Him.” 

Charles M. Sheldon – In His Steps

Until next time, friend…