FROM ELDER PETER RICHARDSON:
Do you remember the mention of an old saying about butterflies from last week’s sermon? The saying was, “The caterpillar that has been transformed into a butterfly will never crawl again.” It was such a simple saying but holds many truths that can be applied to our Christian walk.
Have you ever spent time studying a caterpillar up close? They spend a little of their time walking around, watching for potential predators and doing other caterpillary things, but their lives mainly focus on one thing…eating! After eating all they possibly can, they go through a metamorphosis that turns them into a beautiful butterfly. They can never return to their life as a caterpillar. That part of their life has ceased.
That illustration from nature should cause us to consider the focus of our lives. Surely, there are chores that we must do from day to day, but what is the true focus of our lives. What do we do with our time? One day, life as we know it will cease and there will be no going back. Like the butterfly, we as Christians will go through a beautiful transformation. We will escape this world and live with God for eternity, but will we leave behind any unfinished business? We won’t be able to go back to witness to our neighbor, tell our spouse or our children that we love them or complete any of the undone good works that God asked us to do.
Time is precious. Lepidopterists (scientists who study butterflies) say that the average lifespan of a butterfly is 10-14 days. Our days, too, are limited. Let’s aim to not leave any “loose ends”. Let’s make our lives count by doing as many things that we can that have eternal significance.
In Christ,
Elder Peter Richardson