Metamorphosis

As a person ages there is often a common desire to avoid change. This is especially true if such change displaces the comfort of the familiar. I wonder if this could be why so many resist the guidance of God's Holy Spirit toward a better way of thinking. Being comfortable with the familiar spins a cocoon of false security. As Christians, we live with continual change as we prepare for eternity.  So, what happens with the cocoons we spin?

The wonders of nature used to compete with baseball in the minds of ten-year-olds. At least that was the way it was for Beverly and me. We were classmates and close friends with a common interest in collecting butterflies. At that time we were living in foothills of the Sierra Nevada Range in northern California. With an hour of free time after school we headed for a nearby riverside meadow. With nets in hand we traipsed through fragrant wildflowers seeking specimens for our collections. Part of our experience was the gathering of cocoons from various plant stems. We would cut the stems with attached cocoons and place them in Mason quart jars to await the transformation process. In a few days cocooned caterpillars would complete their metamorphic change into butterflies.

In the eyes of a ten-year-old, this process takes a long time. Just as in our present lives, we often wish to see immediate changes, but God's ways are not our ways. Changes begin to take place as God works. Not every cocoon produced a beautiful butterfly. I remember the disappointment in finding plain ordinary gray or brown moths crawling forth from their silken cradles. Sometimes a cocoon would shrivel into nothingness. What lessons can be drawn from my illustration? I like to think that our life in this world is all about change.

The choices we make now will determine whether one emerges from the cocoon of this life to live in meadows of eternity or simply shrivel and fall into the darkness of Abaddon's bottomless pit. The ultimate outcome will be determined by our thoughts, attitudes, and desires. God strives to change these as He works in us to will and act according to His purpose (Philippians 2:13). The coming year beckons with opportunity. Move forward "and do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God" Romans 12:2 NKJV.

If we do not have the pleasures of this life, we may still be joyful in looking to the life beyond. . . .Let us keep fresh in our memory all the tender mercies that God has shown us,---the tears He has wiped away, the pains He has soothed, the anxieties removed, the fears dispelled, the wants supplied, the blessings bestowed,---thus strengthening ourselves for all that is before us through the remainder of our pilgrimage. [E.G. White, SC 125]

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