Becoming a Butterfly

The alarm shrilled at 3:15 a.m., but I was already up making coffee. I wouldn’t have wanted to do this every morning—a regular 5 a.m. weekday rise was a struggle enough. But this morning was exceptional and required the sleep sacrifice: my husband and I were flying to Mexico! An Uber, two airports, and two flights later, with a passage of time of nearly 12 hours, we were lounging on a chair on the beach with the hot Riviera sun warming our skin and the humidity filling our nostrils. We were exhausted, but the sight of my beloved palm trees was worth the journey.

After a full night of sleep with no alarms to disturb it, I sipped my coffee on the balcony of our rented condo and listened to the morning sounds of birds, including a rooster’s tardy wake-up calls. This was a morning alarm I’d gladly wake up to since sunrise happened after 7:00 a.m.!

As I spent some moments with God, I thanked Him for all His blessings and the opportunity to be lounging in Puerto Vallarta on a Sunday morning in July. I noted that the hours of waiting in lines and sitting on airplanes seemed a distant memory already. I had seven glorious days spread before me as a result of the headaches of travel. I was prepared to enter a new way of living for the next week in a different country, surrounded by a foreign language and customs unlike my own.

Embracing the new life that God desires for us can be like that. When we invite Him into our hearts and truly surrender our wills to Him, we may need to make some sacrifices. God wants to make us holy as He is holy. This means cleaning up our house for the Holy Spirit to dwell in as we leave our life of sin in the past. As we allow God to transform us, there might be discomfort, and even pain, as we end toxic relationships or give up destructive habits. The saying “No pain, no gain” may not be recorded in the Bible but still applies. While we don’t have to earn God’s love or forgiveness, transformation can be uncomfortable.

The good news is that when we reach the other side of the metamorphosis and spread our butterfly wings, we can leave the baggage of our sinful past in the sea of God’s forgetfulness. If He is willing to free us from our self-made chrysalis, why would we want to keep trying to squeeze back inside? We don’t fit into our life of sin anymore when we have Jesus in our hearts.

2 Corinthians 5:17 assures us that we are a new creation when we repent and invite Jesus to give us His beautiful wings of freedom. Have you ever watched a butterfly fly? It flits about with such grace and lightness. This colourful creature doesn’t seem weighed down by its past life as a caterpillar. That former way of life is over, and, like us, it “is a new being; the old has gone, the new has come” (GNT).

Are there things from your past that you cling to? Are there sins that still weigh you down? That is not God’s will for your transformed life.

My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20 (NLT)

The butterfly left its caterpillar body in the chrysalis just like we left ours when we received the forgiveness of Christ. Jesus went to the cross to make that happen. Part of accepting salvation is acknowledging that His act cancelled all our sin and guilt, and, as new creatures, we are changed.

Pray with me:

Father, thank You for Your mercy and grace that moved You to send Your Son to take the punishment for my sins. When You entered my heart, Jesus, You washed me clean. Help me fly away from my former life of sin on wings of freedom and act as a new transformed creature. Holy Spirit, thank you for being the wind beneath my wings that keep me airborne. I love You, Father, Son, and Spirit. Amen.

Valda Goudie is a teacher and a writer. Visit her site at https://valsstage.com and download a free e-book called “Tickle Me with a Crowbar!” containing 30 days of jokes and short devotions!