Brand Spakin' New

II Corinthians 5:17 -- "Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come."

At Gainesville taken by Kelly Babb Dalton

Walking through the butterfly garden at the University of Florida in Gainesville is one my favorite things to do. Camera at the ready, I snap away, capturing all the colorful flitting of wings that I possibly can. I love pressing my face up against the glass like a kid, to watch the fat little caterpillars chew their way through tons of green leaves. It’s hard to picture the stout and sometimes creepy looking worms as a beautiful winged creature with multi-faceted hues and boundless elegance. But sure enough, as I stand there, one of the cocoons hanging from a wire mesh starts to wiggle and gingerly, out struggles a gorgeous Blue Morpho.

This is what happens to us when we are born again in Christ. We are no longer the fat little caterpillar, hungrily devouring our way through life with an endless starvation for something more. We ARE more. As we accept God’s grace through the shed blood of Jesus we pop out of that cocoon a brand new creature.  We don’t resemble the thing we once were. Eating everything in sight but never having enough. Chewing and chewing against an interminable hunger that is never satisfied.  

At Gainesville taken by Kelly Babb Dalton

Instead, we are beautifully, blessedly different. The constant struggle for SELF-fulfillment is no longer our number one priority.  We are new.  We now have purpose. We unfurl our grace granted wings and spread out into the world to share, to give, to serve. There are many plants on this great blue marble that would die out if it weren't for the work of the butterfly.  A task usually thought to belong only to bees, butterflies disturb and distribute pollen when they set their tiny feet down on flower petals.  Then when they move on to another flower, they carry with them the needed contribution of the plant previously visited so growth, bud and blossom can stretch out their green toward the face of the brilliant sun once again. Anew. Bright and lush with life.

At Gainesville taken by Kelly Babb Dalton

One afternoon as I struggled to pack the rest of my things into the suitcase I would take back to the dorm with me, I finally let loose the tears.  I hated being over six hundred miles away from Davao, from my parents and my little brother.  I hated the sometimes cruel words of the other girls at our Christian, Missionary Kid school. I begged my parents to allow me to be homeschooled but they insisted I go.

My Dad came in.  In his hand he held a coffee mug that he used ALL the time.  On it there was a caterpillar and a butterfly.  In between the two in graceful calligraphy were the words "Jesus gives new life" and underneath those words was the verse II Corinthian 5:17.  "Behold, new things have come."  Old things pass away.  He said to me, in that hushed conspiratory voice he sometimes had, "you forgot this", and he gave me his gift of encouragement.

At Gainesville taken by Kelly Babb Dalton

I couldn't spend my entire life curled up in a ball inside my own room with a tear-stained face.  I wasn't a caterpillar anymore.  I had to fly forward, even if my wings hadn't fully unfurled yet and had a few wrinkles to be worked free.  It's tempting to want to help the butterfly come out of the cocoon. I'm sure that, as I stood there, leaning up against my Dad with huge tears streaming down my cheeks he wanted to be able to allow me to stay home and finish out high school. But, just like the butterfly breaking free of the old shelter of the cocoon, struggle is necessary for strength and growth. It's part of becoming a new creature.  Paul tells us that over and over again.  In my weakness, God is strong.

I learned not to hang on the old shelter.  The old has passed away.  Behold, new things have come.

I sit with my hands wrapped around that mug and have my morning coffee. It's old and yellowed with a chip on the rim where I have to be careful where I take my sip of morning joe....but it still makes me smile.