The children's book The Very Hungry Caterpillar colorfully details the life of a caterpillar as it changes into a beautiful butterfly. We have read this book to our two sons many times. The story describes a wonderful process called metamorphosis.

Webster's dictionary defines metamorphosis as "a change of physical form, structure, or substance especially by supernatural means" or "a striking alteration in appearance, character or circumstances." The online encyclopedia, Wikipedia, adds that it "involves significant change in form as well as growth" and it "usually accompanies a change of habitat or of habits." Through metamorphosis, the caterpillar becomes a totally new creation.

Metamorphosis compares to the process of change that we undergo in becoming God's begotten children. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:17, "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."

He actually uses a term from which we get the word metamorphosis in Romans 12:2: "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." The word transformed is in the Greek metamorphoo, and it means undergoing a profound transformation. So we also must become completely changed into a new creation by developing the mind and character of God.

The butterfly has four stages of life: egg, larva, pupa and adult. The larva is what we refer to as the caterpillar. Other names for caterpillars include inchworm, fruit worm, silkworm or even woolly bear.

Many caterpillars are not very beautiful. A caterpillar is a very small creature that we would probably overlook if we were walking through a forest. Many of us might try to squash it or flick it away if we did see one.

Like this tiny creature, we are not much of and by ourselves either. King David expressed this when he said, "But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised by the people" (Psalm 22:6). He also said, "What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?" (Psalm 8:4).

If we continue to verse 5, we learn that God has a design for us. David says, "For You have made him a little lower than the angels, and You have crowned him with glory and honor." Remember that God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness" in Genesis 1:26. We are to become like God in our character and nature. But we need help.

Eating Machines

Aptly called eating machines, the caterpillar's daily agenda is simple: eat, eat, avoid being eaten and eat. They have perhaps the fastest growth rate of any animal in the world. A tobacco hornworm, for example, increases its own weight 10,000 times in less than 20 days. The monarch increases its mass by 30,000 times as a caterpillar.

Caterpillars do not have very good eyesight or senses. They rely on their antenna to help them locate food since they only have six tiny simple eyes on the lower portion of their head.

For us to change, we must eat a diet of God's truth. Like the caterpillar, we also do not "see" well. Because our nature is totally against God, He must first draw us to Him (Romans 8:7-8; John 6:44, 65). God then convicts us of our sin and grants us repentance (John 16:8; Acts 11:18). Upon repentance, God then forgives us (1 John 1:9-10). Finally, God gives us the desire to learn His ways and to submit our will to Him (Philippians 2:13).

Only after we repent and become baptized—physical, outward signs of our choice to follow God—can we make the choice to serve God through obedience. Then, we begin our lifelong process to completely change ourselves with God's help. We become the begotten children of God through the receipt of God's Holy Spirit within our mind.

As such, we should labor "for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give" (John 6:26-27). This food can be found in God's truth. Christ says, "I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world" (John 6:51).

We partake of this bread by continuing in our commitment to serve God in obedience and also by incorporating God's laws into our lives. The Message translation reads, "Here's how we can be sure that we know God in the right way: Keep his commandments. If someone claims, 'I know him well!' but doesn't keep his commandments, he's obviously a liar. His life doesn't match his words" (1 John 2:3-4).

Shedding the Old Ways

In order to accommodate growth, the larva must molt, or shed, its skin multiple times. Caterpillars mature through a series of stages, called instars. Near the end of each instar, the larva molts the old skin and the new skin rapidly forms. The process is very similar to the way a snake sheds its skin when its body outgrows the skin. A caterpillar typically sheds its skin five times during the larval stage. Development of butterfly wing patterns begins by the last larval instar.

For us to change, we must take on a new mind and shed our former way of life. God tells us quite bluntly that "My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, says the L ord . For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:8-9). In Ephesians 4:22, we are told to "put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts."

When we take in God's Word and apply it in our life, it will help us to be "renewed in the spirit of your mind" and take on the "new man... created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness" (Ephesians 4:23-24).

God gives us encouraging words from Isaiah that read, "For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it" (Isaiah 55:10-11). God will help us to make the necessary changes to take on His character.

Waiting for Change

When the larva is fully grown, it will stop feeding and start searching for a safe place, sometimes up to 30 to 40 feet away, usually the underside of a leaf. Once there, the caterpillar sheds its last skin and forms a chrysalis. Then it must wait. This pupa stage may last for nine to 12 days, but some species take many months to a year.

Just like the caterpillar patiently waits in the chrysalis, we must wait for our total change to occur. Job says that "all the days of my hard service I will wait, till my change comes" (Job 14.14).

That waiting can be a challenge. As we try to incorporate God's principles and values within our lives in this evil world, "we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body," as Paul states in Romans 8:23.

We know that "the hour is coming," as Jesus Christ said when discussing the resurrections in John 5:25-29. We look forward to this dramatic change that will bring about "the revealing of the sons of God" (Romans 8:19).

Within the chrysalis, a true miracle takes place. The caterpillar's mouth parts go from being those required for chewing to the butterfly's strawlike tongue used for sipping nectar from flowers. A creepy, crawling insect totally changes in into a beautiful, flying butterfly.

Nothing signals the emergence of the butterfly from its chrysalis. The chrysalis suddenly cracks open and out comes the butterfly. The tiny, crumpled wings quickly become full-sized, dry and ready for flying within about an hour. A once ugly caterpillar has been transformed into a new creation.

At Christ's return, we will be miraculously changed into God's spiritual children
(1 Corinthians 15:50-58). Supernaturally, through the power of God's Holy Spirit, we, like the caterpillar, will become a new creation. UN