Why "Butterfly Genes"?

I was inspired to title the Blog "Butterfly Genes" by the section of chapter two of  the book, TrueFaced. It compares Christ followers with caterpillars/butterflies. The term "butterfly genes" doesn't actually appear in the book, that's just an interpretation. Did you know that a caterpillar’s DNA is the same as a butterfly's? Click here to see it explained by a scientist. Pretty cool, huh?

 Here is the passage in full:

"Nature provides many examples of this incredible discrepancy between who we appear to be and who we truly are. Consider the caterpillar. If we brought a caterpillar to a biologist and asked him to analyze it and describe its DNA, he would tell us, 'I know this looks like a caterpillar to you, but scientifically, according to every test, including DNA, this is fully and completely a butterfly.' Wow! God has wired into a creature that looks nothing like a butterfly, a perfectly complete butterfly 'identity.' And because the caterpillar is a butterfly in essence, it will one day display the behavior and attributes of a butterfly. The caterpillar matures into what is already true about it. In the meantime, berating the caterpillar for not being more like a butterfly is not only futile, it will probably hurt his tiny ears!

"So it is with us. God has given us the DNA of godliness. We are saints. Righteous. Nothing we do will alter this reality. God knows our DNA. He knows that we are 'Christ in me." And now he is asking us to join him in what he knows is true!"(Used by permission of NavPress. TrueFaced by Bill Thrall and Bruce McNicol, pp. 47-47. Copyright 2004, all rights reserved. 1-800-366-7788 http://www.navpress.com/)

Now, we're not talking everybody here. When they say "us" or "we" they mean people who have trusted Christ as their Savior. The title of "saint" came at a very steep price...one that neither you nor I could ever, ever hope to pay, but that Jesus paid willingly with His life.

Even though I feel like a caterpillar most days, God sees me as a beautiful butterfly, already made in the image He created. I love that!