New Things

I was working on my lesson for The Gathering and I was reminded again about the amazing way God weaves redemption into nature and the world around us. 2 Corinthians 5:17 talks about being new creations in Christ...the best example of that to me is the way the caterpillar becomes a butterfly. Yesterday Claire and I read The Very Hungry Caterpillar together. It is a simple book that illustrates a common occurrence in nature, but it offers profound insight into the way God looks at our old self and our new self. The caterpillar, a creature that most people don't think very highly of, but God takes that creature and forms a beautiful new butterfly out of it. What a picture of God's redemptive work in our lives to take the our broken lives before Christ and make them whole in Christ! He takes something not so pretty, even downright ugly and makes something beautiful and grace-filled out of it.