Metamorphosis means to be transformed, to change in formed, appearance. To change in condition, nature or character.
We all love butterflies. They are beautiful and have bright colored wings. Did you know that these beautiful flyers begin life as something completely different? As they grow, they undergo one seriously transformation. It is a process that is called “metamorphosis”. It starts when a female butterfly lays her eggs. Inside the tiny egg a caterpillar grows. They eat their way out of its egg. When they are a fully grown caterpillar, that is when they will emerge from its egg. WOW! Once fully grown, the caterpillar forms itself into a “pupa” (or chrysalis). The “pupa” stage may last a few weeks to several months. Inside the “pupa," the tissue, limbs, and organs of the caterpillar is transformed. The result? A wonderful and beautiful butterfly.
To become a Christian, is costly. We are called aside and we suffer. In the New Testament, the Greek word for transformation is metamorphosis. As from the caterpillar to the butterfly.
When we prayed to receive Jesus Christ as our personal Savior, we were regenerated, or reborn, with the divine life of God. This life operates within us, to transform us into the image of God. Philiippians 3:21, “…, will transform our lowly bodies to be like His glorious body.” Transformation starts in the mind. Apostle Paul reminds us that to be transformed, it requires the renewing of our minds.
Our thoughts determines our actions. Our thoughts becomes brand new when we surrender to Jesus, completely. It’s not about self or other people’s opinions. Our thoughts process changes. Our actions are changed. Our life changes. You have a completely different mindset. Your thoughts are no longer carnal, they are now spiritual and holy.
But it comes with a cost. God said that we should let our light shine. Shining is always costly. The brighter the shine, the greater the cost. You are a candle that sits upon a hill.
An unlit candle doesn’t shine. But to light the candle, you have to put some fire to it. Burning comes before the shine, that’s the light. We cannot be of great use to God and others, without some cost to ourselves. That’s the burning process, the metamorphosis process.
The Burning Process is the suffering, our test. No one likes pain, especially me. We think that we can conquer the world while we are strong. Especially when we are serving God with our hearts and doing his ministry with our hands. Then God calls us aside, for our test, metamorphosis, and we suffer.
Some of us maybe in the metamorphosis stage (burning) now, but we must understand, that we can still shine while we are burning. We can still work for God and represent Him while we are in our burning stage, in the midst of our test.
Many of us, wants the glory without carrying our cross. The shining without the burning is not possible. We will be crucified, cruicified to ourselves, and cruicified to the things of this world, before we can receive our crown, our treasures, and our reward. Jesus will present us with all of these, at our coronation, in heaven.