A New Day

By: Pastor Johnie Akers     

2 Corinthians 3:18, “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” Scott Higgins from National Geographic served as the source for the following story. Many people find beetles and bugs somewhat creepy, but if there’s one beetle in the world that could turn you into a beetle lover, it’s the jewel scarab. Jewel scarab’s live in the jungles of Honduras and have the shape of a regular beetle, but that’s where the similarity ends. Their colors are so dazzling and beautiful that they can sell for up to $500 a beetle. They can be donned with beautiful flaming red, bright gold, or silver that resembles bright, shiny chrome. Even the beetle hater finds jewel scarabs dazzling and beautiful. But the jewel scarab’s beauty doesn’t come automatically. Every scarab has modest, even ugly beginnings. The scarab starts life as a soft, mushy, grey-white grub growing inside a rotting tree stump. They spend their life like this for around a year, until finally, when the rainy season arrives, the adult scarabs emerge soft bodied and pale. Then within hours, their bodies harden and their splendid colors show. They only live for another three months, but what a glorious existence it is. At times we are just like these scarabs. We may not feel terribly beautiful and attractive. In fact, there may be parts of us that can feel distinctly ugly—and I am not talking about our bodies, but our spirits, minds, and even our character. But it is the work of the Spirit of God to make us beautiful. It may seem to take a lifetime, but as the Spirit works on us, we will emerge as beautiful, dazzling, shining creatures gloriously bearing the image of our Creator. It is a process that God takes us all through, as our Scripture lesson today suggests, “from glory to glory”—transforming us into the image God has foreordained we reflect and embody. You are not today what you will be. God has splendor not yet apparent that He will reveal in you and through you; and this glorious process of transformation in each of us, begins with our patience through His sovereign processes, with this and each new day.