Then the worm became a splendid
butterfly, by J. R. Miller. Since you have been
raised to new life with Christ, set your hearts on things above,
set your minds on things above, not on earthly things, Colossians
3, 1-2. Paul reminds us that those who
believe on Christ should live a risen life. We live on the
earth at present. We walk on earth's streets. We live in material houses, built
of stones, bricks, or wood. We eat earth's fruits, gathering
our food from earth's fields, orchards, and gardens. We wear
clothes woven of earthly fabrics. We adorn our homes with works
of art that human hands make. We engage in the business of
earth. We find our happiness in the
things of this life. but there will be a life after
this. We call it heaven. We cannot
see it. There is never a rift in the
sky through which we can get even a glimpse of it. We have
in the Scriptures hints of its beauty, its happiness, its blessedness. We know it is a world without
sorrow, without sin, without death. Paul's teaching is that
the Christian, while living on the earth, ought to begin to
live this heavenly life. One day a friend sent me a splendid
butterfly, artistically mounted, known as the Liebermoth, This
little creature is said to be the most beautiful of North American
insects. Its color is light green with
variegated spots. In its caterpillar state, it
was only a worm. It died and entered its other,
or higher state as we would say, and then the worm became a splendid
butterfly. This illustrates the two stages
of a Christian's life. Here we are in our earthly state. After this will come the heavenly
condition. The things that are above belong
to this higher spiritual life. But the Christian is exhorted
to seek these higher things while living in this lower world. We
belong to heaven, although we are not yet living in heaven.
Paul presents the same truth in another form when he says,
Our citizenship is in heaven, though we are in this earthly
world, but we do not belong here, we are only strangers and pilgrims.