My granddaughter Coco is always at it—eating! Her all-time favorite? Blueberries, yum!
Her mom Opalyn fondly calls her “my very hungry caterpillar,” referencing Eric Carle’s very popular and multi-awarded children’s book.
So naturally, when Coco turned a year old recently, “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” became her party theme. And as usual, all her photos showed her munching… munching… munching.
She just wouldn’t stop! Give her a chicken bone or pork rib and she’d just as happily gnaw at it.
Always biting or chomping, a caterpillar is a persistent eater.
What happens after all the nibbling and crunching? The caterpillar digests itself with its own enzymes, dissolving its tissues, then transforming these into body parts—a painful yet miraculous process.
Metamorphosis! How a crawly and slowpoke worm magically turns into a vari-colored swift-flying wonder—the best friend of flowers, a boon to plant life, especially agricultural productivity, and a sight for sore eyes.
“The very hungry caterpillar” may be an apt metaphor for a growing child who always needs to be fed so he or she develops into a healthy individual.
I’ve prayed that Coco’s (and our other grandchildren’s) constant hunger for food metamorphoses into a craving for the things of God—that she would turn to God’s Word for spiritual nourishment and desire His righteousness instead of the transient pleasures and highs found in material possessions.
1 Peter 2:2, “Like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the Word, so that by it, you may grow in respect to salvation.”
Matthew 5:6, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”
John 6:35, “Jesus said to them, ‘I am the Bread of life; he who comes to me will not hunger, and he who believes in me will never thirst.'”
Between ten to 15 days, a caterpillar is no more. Changed, totally!
The Word of God promises us the same thing. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has gone, the new is here,” 2 Corinthians 5:17.
Coco developing a hunger for God? She’s on the right track.
She may have started like the very hungry caterpillar. With godly parents and loved ones teaching and showing her the Way, she will soon realize that Jesus alone satisfies.
Prayer: Jesus, thank you for our children and grandchildren. May they know You intimately even as they mature. May they see the difference between the “food” that the world offers, and the real riches you have stored up for them. May they walk on solid ground and glorify your Name alone.
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