Caterpillars or Butterflies?

Much of modern Christianity keeps us in the larval stage. We are no longer eggs, but neither are we butterflies. Rather, we creep about: big, fat caterpillars, swollen with unrealized power. The Lord longs to transform us into the beauty, grace and freedom He has promised, but most of the time we're too afraid, distracted, unaware of what we are missing, or yes, even lazy, to reach for our destiny. We'd rather play it safe, munch on leaves and crawl around the ground, than fly in tune with the Holy Spirit.

My life scripture is Ephesians 1:17-19, "I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe." I love the "great power part!" Power for our own sanctification, the salvation and discipleship of the world, healing of the sick, raising of the dead, casting out of demons…the very defeat of Satan.

 John 14:12-14 promises that we WILL perform miraculous acts: "Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it." We need a revelation of the power we inherited from Jesus. Not soul-ish power to assert ourselves in the workplace or physical strength to climb literal mountains, but inner equipping strength to tenaciously follow the Lord's call. Our spirit (indwelt by the Holy Spirit) should be our master, our soul our servant, and our body our slave, but more often we are slaves to our bodies-our appetites-and servants to our souls (moods, griefs, dissatisfactions,boredom, etc). We fill ourselves and our time with the things of this world...things that are not inherently evil, but nevertheless rob us of our destiny. They give us temporary pleasure, but do not satisfy our God-hunger. They displace the Holy Spirit, and keep us from transformation.

 The first commandment reads: "You shall have no other gods before me." In case you fixate on the fact this was Old Testament, Matt. 22:38 reads: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment." It is very difficult, if not impossible, to love the Lord with that sort of single-mindedness if we clutter our lives with the junk of this world. I'll bet if most of us are totally honest with ourselves, we who are believers have a "God compartment" that we don't allow to interfere with the rest of our lives. We spend a small amount of time (if we even get around to that) in daily communion and worship of Him, then get to the real substance of our lives: work, prestige, competition, amassing of STUFF, satisfying our bodily cravings, entertainment and recreation.

 1 Cor. 2:14 says, "But the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness to him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." And though we may have tasted of the Lord, we are not making Him our regular diet-we feed on pop culture. We can't wait for the next movie, electronic gadget, or latte flavor to be released. We are essentially still natural men (and women). We are not living on the God-edge, ready to follow His every leading, but on the cutting edge of technology. How do we return to our first love? I truly believe we must begin to wean ourselves from the common and focus on the divine.

 Eph. 5:15-16 (I totally recommend reading the whole chapter-good stuff!) says, "Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil." Damon Thompson from the Ramp defines it this way: "[You need the] divine indwelling of the Holy Ghost that squeezes out your appetite for lesser things." We must listen to Jesus as he admonished the rich young ruler in Mark 10:17-22, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” (verse 21b). We must divest ourselves of that which distracts and weighs us down, that which consumes our time and attention. We must set aside a place and time (a cocoon, if we keep with the caterpillar analogy) for communion with the One who sacrificed His life for us. In doing so, we can allow the Holy Spirit to transform us "from glory to glory," and get on with our destiny!