An Introduction

Almost every book we open starts with an “Introduction” or “Prologue”. I find that to

be a little bit annoying because I want to get on with the story. However, if I don’t read the introduction I will be at a loss not knowing the background or setting. for the story. When you think of it though, this is really a copy of how God does things; He starts us off as a baby, (which is our “introduction” to living) and it takes us quite a while to learn how we are supposed to behave in order to take our place in the world, so our childhood is really just an “introduction” to life.

 

He also makes a butterfly in a similar way by firstly making a grub  that eats leaves until its body is complete with the necessary items that are required to make that butterfly. And then, after that “introductory process”, the grub hides itself in a chrysalis for a few days and emerges in all its magnificence as a butterfly. I watched this metamorphosis take place in a box on our dining room table and was amazed at how quickly this transformation occurred so I was pleased that I took these 3 photos. Our life on earth is similar to that of the grub in the photo above therefore we should just look on our Earthly life as the “introduction” to the Life Eternal that God has promised us if we believe on Jesus (John 3: 16). “Death” for that grub is not it’s “last sleep” but is really its “first awakening” (the beginning of the life it was designed for) and that applies to you and me as well when we close our eyes for the last time on earth.

There is something we can learn from the grub though and that is that it had to eat the right food so that its body would contain all the elements necessary for it to be able to become a butterfly. Likewise, we must nourish our souls so they are ready for the transformation that will take place when we stop breathing in this body, because it is our soul (which is the real you or me), that continues on into Paradise.

For starters we must “believe in the Lord Jesus Christ” and accept the forgiveness He offers us for sins we have committed, and that is something we should be delighted to do. Next, we should then endeavour to live the way He wants us to live: striving to “love our neighbours as we love ourselves”, and constantly keep “short accounts” with God by frequently asking forgiveness for our many failings.

When I saw how quickly a grub can be changed into a butterfly, I had no trouble believing Paul’s statement as recorded in 1 Corinthians, chapter 15 and verse 52 where he says “we shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye”.

 Our life on earth may last one hundred years, but whether we look on that as a long time or not just depends on what we compare it with; if we compare it with Eternal Life, which is for ever and ever then one hundred years is just the equivalent of one tick of a clock. Consequently, we need to get our relative values sorted out, because we are not here to waste time. We are here doing an Apprenticeship of a type to fit us for that Eternal Life. Apprentices “indenture” themselves to a person who is qualified in the trade that interests them and should spend their time acquiring knowledge of that trade. That way they quickly become useful, and if they don’t allow themselves to become “side-tracked” the final exams they have to undertake should be more of a “formality” than anything else. It should be the same for us: we are “indentured” to God so if we abide by the teaching set out in His “instruction book” (the New Testament), entering Heaven will just be a “formality” for us too.

Best wishes with that, Tom.