AN AMAZING TRANSFORMATION
2 Corinthians 5:17
If any man be in Christ he is an new creation; the old is passed away, behold the new is born.
This past week I was blessed to be able to guide a turkey hunt in far south Texas on the Mariposa Ranch. It's an amazing piece of property, full of a multitude of habitat types and animals of a wide variety of species, some of which are found in few other places.
On the logo of the Mariposa is a beautiful butterfly. While on the ranch we somehow got on the subject of Monarch butterflies and I learned so much that I had never known about God's amazing creation. Here are just a few facts, of many that I've learned since my Mariposa visit.
1. As a caterpillar it digests only one type of plant, the milkweed, which is poisonous to other animals that eat it, but not to this caterpillar.
2. The caterpillar increases in weight 2,700% in 20 days!
3. The butterfly, once it comes out of the cocoon, navigates alone to a never-before-seen location over 2,000 miles away!
4. The monarch butterfly chemically reconstructs itself from a caterpillar with 6 simple eyes which can only see in black and white, having a chewing mouthpiece, 16 legs, and the ability to crawl. Yet, it becomes a butterfly with 2 eyes that can see in color (each with 6,000 lenses), a sucking mouthpiece, 6 legs, 4 wings and the ability to fly!
After reading all of these amazing transformative qualities, I again think of the scripture above. 2 Corinthians 5:17 "If any man be in Christ he is an new creation; the old is passed away, behold the new is born."
Trusting in Jesus Christ as our Savior; coming to him and admitting that we know we are sinners and have no place in God's kingdom, because of our imperfect nature, brings with it a miracle gift of transformation, a metamorphosis. Jesus will forgive us, wipe our sins from us, and give us new life!
Remembering now how the butterfly was immediately equipped with the ability to navigate to a never-before-seen location over 2,000 miles away? When you ask Jesus to forgive your sins, you become a new creature... a Christian. You also receive the promise of eternal life in God's new Heaven and Earth, which is far beyond the realm of this old world.
Consider the probability of random-chance mutations evolving through this perfectly timed, chemically miraculous metamorphosis from a caterpillar to a monarch butterfly is far beyond the realm of reason. It is more proof that there is a creator that loves us... even far more than the monarch butterfly. He loves enough to send His Son to die for us. Now that's the most beautiful part of the Monarch transformation.
Jeremiah 29:11, "For I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD; plans for good and not for evil, plans to give you hope and a future."
When we've come to Christ, we are an amazing transformation.
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