Flutterbies

Yes, I do know how to spell...though you wouldn't know it from the title of this post.  The word is supposed to be butterfly, but Zach used to call them flutterbies.  Cute, huh?  We were riding down the road the other day and out in one of the fields near the house there had to be hundreds of butterflies around some cotton bushes (bushes, plants, whatever you call them).  I immediately thought, "Wow this is one of those teaching moments that people talk about!"  This is the second one that has come my way in recent weeks (you'll remember the squirrel and the chiuahua).  I've never noticed them before...does this mean I'm getting old or just more intuned to God?  Hopefully the latter!
Anyway,  I pointed out all of the butterflies to the boys and told them that we are like butterflies when we have Jesus in our hearts. 
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old is gone, the new has come!"
2 Corinthians 5:17
This verse makes me think about how a butterfly changes from a caterpillar into a butterfly.  This process just doesn't happen overnight.  The caterpillar just doesn't say, "Hmmm, I'm tired of being a caterpillar, I think I'll turn into a butterfly."  No, there is a process.  The caterpillar goes through several different "caterpillar" stages, then into a chrysalis (like a cocoon) where it finally emerges as a butterfly.
This is how we are in our Christian life.  Before we come to know Christ, we are like the caterpillar in that we are lost and not the person we were created to become.  We are created for God's glory in His image.
"God created man in His own image; in the image of God he created him; male and female He created them."  Genesis 1:27
"And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory..." 2 Corinthians 3:18
We eventually become so lost and confused we wind ourselves into a cocoon and live in darkness.  When we finally realize our need for a Savior and ask Christ to be the Lord of our life then we burst forth out of our cocoon into the light as a beautiful and brand new creation!
"God is light, in Him there is no darkness."  1 John 1:5b
"For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ."  2 Cor 4:6
Isn't it awesome that God made creatures like the butterfly that we in our simple mindedness can use to attempt to comprehend the love He has for us?  It's the simple everyday things of life that we can use to see Him and that we as believers can use to tell others about Him!
"But God demonstrates His own love for us in this:  While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."  Romans 5:8

How deep the Father's love for us,
How vast beyond all measure.
That He should give His only Son,
To make a wretch His treasure.
How deep the Father's love for us (above verse from this beautiful song)