“Our life is hidden with Christ in God.” - Colossians 3:3
In the various stages of a
butterfly, we can see a beautiful analogy of our death, burial and resurrection
in Christ. Our growth in spiritual awareness finds an interesting parallel in
the metamorphosis of the caterpillar into a butterfly. We come into this world
selfishly devouring everything this civilization has to offer. Even if we
codependently care for the needs of everyone we meet, we trust in our goodness
rather than in Christ’s sacrifice (Ephesians 2:8-10). We continue in this meager existence until we
realize our depraved state and call out to God for Salvation.
Many of us repent of our
willful disobedience; but then, in the flesh we vow to spend the rest of our life
in strict adherence to God’s law in a regimen of self-effort. We encase our
self in the silken threads of our chrysalis of scriptural mandates. Forsaking
the gift of grace, which God so freely bestowed on us at salvation, we seek to
reach perfection through the Law (Galatians 3:1-3; 5:3). We feel the restriction of the shackles that we
spin, but we continue to wrap the glossy threads of legalism around our life
until we are completely bound up in the dark.
Fears and anxieties, which
we successfully evaded in the past, begin to haunt us day and night. We feel
changes taking place within our innermost being that we do not understand.
Imagine being a caterpillar. Your score of chubby, little legs change into six
long, skinny ones. Your round supple body shrinks to a fraction of it normal
size. Suddenly wings protrude from your back. They seem to be useless
appendages that will only be an extra burden to carry through life – if indeed
there will be life after this dreadfully dark time of confinement.
We cry out to God in
desperation, but He seems beyond our reach and unable to hear our muffled cries
from within the chrysalis of the law and dead works that surrounds us. In
actuality, He does hear us, but it is not time for Him to intervene. Our nature
is quite changed by the power of Christ’s blood, but we do not yet appreciate
this fact (2 Corinthians 3:18).
The chrysalis of dead works is our prison (Hebrews 9:14). However, it also provides a certain sense of
security, which we are loath to surrender.
Eventually we get fed up
with our imprisonment, and we start the struggle for spiritual freedom. Slowly,
we see daylight as we methodically emerge from the chrysalis of bondage to the
Law and works (Galatians 5:1; Hebrews 6:1). Our personal struggle to free our self from these dead works equips us
for our existence outside of our chrysalis. It is a vital part of the spiritual
process. The exertion brings us to the ultimate realization of our utter
helplessness and desperate need for Christ to live in and through us. We
hesitate, poised on the edge of His new world. (To be continued :)
Prayer:
Father God, thank You for opening Your
arms and welcoming us to come to You. We find rest in You, freedom in You and abundant
life in You. We realize that this life
of faith does not entirely exclude works (James 2:18). However, we only work in obedience to the promptings
of Your Spirit within us (Romans 8:2).
You set us free from the law of sin and death, so that we can live in constant
victory through the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, as your
ambassadors in this world (2 Corinthians 5:20).Thought for the Day:
As we look at where we came from and remember our bondage to the Law and self-effort from which God freed us, we find peace and joy unspeakable and full of glory. – 1 Peter 1:8
