When I was in second grade our class conducted a butterfly-catching contest. It was something I still remember today partly because the kid who was the best at it also had one of the worst home situations of anyone in our school.

Later in life my friend spent many years in prison, but back then he was free to run and catch beautiful Monarch butterflies and discover an ability inside himself to be a champion! I have often thought of the irony in this little story. Most of us know the butterfly doesn’t begin its journey in the same shape in which it finishes. It goes through an almost unbelievable process of transformation on its way to becoming something superior. If it survives the slow crawl of a caterpillar and the complete immobilization of the cocoon, it will soar into skies with a visible beauty greater than our comprehension to understand!

Jesus said the Kingdom of God works similar to the way a child considers. (Matthew 18:2-6; Matthew 19:14). My friend in second grade was the butterfly, an innocent believer in all good things, until the blows of life transformed him into something he was never intended to be. This world molds people, completely altering them into its own image.

As believers we have a second chance at real kingdom life. Jesus and Moses were literally transformed in God’s presence to such an extent their skin radiated the glory of a higher realm. We are invited to ascend to this identical place in the Lord when we follow him closely as did Peter, James and John. God is intent on restoring what the influence of the devil has stolen from mankind.

“Transformed” and “transfigured” are the same word in the New Testament, meaning to “change into another form.” That is what Christianity really is all about. Transporting damaged people from darkness back into the light of God’s glory…never to be the same again, inwardly or outwardly!!

This excerpt was taken from Everyday Preparation For Jesus’ Return by Rocky Veach.