A Spider and a Butterfly

Several years ago scientists learned how to merge together two insects very early in their development. One of the experiments involved the combination of a young fly spider and a young butterfly. These opposite creatures formed a freak of science. This poor insect was simultaneously drawn to the light and to the darkness. It wanted to fly and crawl at the same time. Worst of all, it had an appetite for both flowers and other insects. This Jekyll and Hyde-like insect was an experiment gone wrong. By being both spider and butterfly, it was really neither.

And yet the spider/butterfly may have something in common with us. There is a dichotomy that exists within many of us; we find ourselves pulled in two different directions. Maybe you hate alcohol because you know of its harmful effects, but yet you keep running back to it. Maybe you want to lose weight, but you also love ice cream (I mean the real kind, not that low fat nonsense). 

The dichotomy can also be spiritual. Maybe you know you should pray or read the Bible more, but every time you start to, you think of something else you could be doing with that time. Maybe you know you need to share the gospel with someone, but you choose to talk about sports, politics, the weather—anything but the Lord. Maybe you know you need to drop a bad habit, or pick up a good one, but you find yourself falling short. Perhaps you can relate to Paul, who wrote, “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate…For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing…Wretched man that I am (Romans 7:15, 19, 24)!”

Paul explained the reason for this. We are like the spider-butterfly hybrid in that we are Christians and humans, in this world, but not of it. The key is to keep our minds on the things of God, not the things of this world. “For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace (Romans 8:6).” If we dwell on worldly things, our actions will soon follow our thoughts. We could think about it like this: we are both spider and butterfly; whichever one we feed the most will win. We can feed the spider the carcasses of other insects, or we can feed the butterfly the flowers of the field. We need to pick just one. We can feed the flesh the things of this world, or we can starve the flesh while we feed the spirit the things of God.   

Which one will you choose to feed?