Photo Credit: David F. Garner
Key Verse
“I press on toward the goal for the prize of the high
calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:14 WEB
Lesson
Butterflies are beautiful. Have you ever wondered where they
got this name? It is because in England the first butterfly to hatch in the
spring is completely yellow, the color of butter.1 Butterfly’s are
amazing too. Did you know they smell with their antenna and taste with their
feet? It’s a good thing we don’t taste with our feet! Butterflies cannot hear
though. They feel small vibrations to sense danger. The Monarch butterfly
migrates over 1800 miles (3000km) every year. Butterflies are impressive
creatures and important too. They are the second largest pollinators of flowers
next to bees.2 Without them we would not have as much food.
Butterflies do not hatch beautiful and colorful though. They
must go through three other stages before they become butterflies. They begin
as small defenseless eggs. They hatch into small caterpillars with no wings
(larva stage). As caterpillars they can only eat a few kinds of leaves. So it
is vital that the mother lays the eggs on the correct plant or they will die.
As caterpillars they eat and grow. Then they go through a process called
metamorphosis in a chrysalis, similar to a cocoon. This is the pupa stage. In
metamorphosis their entire body, tissue, limbs, and organs all completely
change. Then they emerge from the chrysalis beautiful butterflies.
As humans we share many similarities with the life cycle of
butterflies. We are born as defenseless babies. We must be given food like the
newborn caterpillars. We must be patient and grow to become something great.
This is called progress. In our spiritual lives we must grow one stage at a
time. Spiritual progress or growth means beginning small and growing one day at
a time. We must face new challenges that will test and strengthen our faith in
God. This is the only way to become a beautiful child of God.
The heroes of the Bible all grew slowly into great followers
of God. King David, Job, Abraham, Mary, Queen Ester, and many others understood
the principle of spiritual progress. As Paul says in Philippians 1:6, He who
started a good work in you when you accepted Jesus into your heart will
complete it. And he said in Philippians 3:14 that we must press on toward the
goal to receive the high calling of Jesus just as the caterpillar must press on
to become all that God intended it to be.
Questions
What is the most beautiful butterfly you have ever seen?
Describe it.
What does spiritual progress or growth mean for a Christian?
What do we need to do to make sure we are growing
spiritually?
How do we know that we are growing and progressing
spiritually?
Sources
1 http://www.lbc.co.uk/why-is-a-butterfly-so-called-8558
2 http://www.wafdc.org.au/kids/amazing-facts-about-butterflies
