We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. Romans six four two caterpillars were walking along a branch one day when a beautiful butterfly glided by, said one caterpillar to the other. You will never catch me up in one of those things. The caterpillar was wrong, of course. All of us know that a caterpillar enters a cocoon and emerges later as a butterfly. Something wonderful happens to a caterpillar in the cocoon so that he has changed into something that does not even resemble what he was before. The caterpillar is not changed from a worm into a butterfly unless and until he enters the cocoon. He has not changed because he wants to be, or because he believes he has changed, or even because he says some kind of magic. Caterpillar prayer the only way the caterpillar can be changed into a butterfly is by entering the cocoon. Now think about us. The Bible says that we are sinners and are not changed into saints. Another word for christians, unless and until we enter a kind of cocoon we call baptism. We are not changed just because we want to be, or because we believe we are changed, or even because we pray some kind of sinners prayer. According to the Bible, a sinner is changed into a saint by entering and then emerging from the water of baptism. Something happens to the caterpillar in the cocoon that changes him into a butterfly. It's not something he does, but something that is done to him. Something happens to sinners in baptism, too. According to the Bible, when we are baptized, our sins are washed away, we are forgiven, and we are changed so that we emerge as new creatures. It is not something we do, but it is something that God does to us. No caterpillar has ever transformed into a butterfly without the cocoon, and no sinner is ever transformed into a saint without baptism. We were buried with him through baptism in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

This has been your thought for the day with Steve Burkham, pastor of Community Christian Church in Stockton, California. If you have questions or comments for Pastor Steve, please send them to daily thoughtspodcastmail.com. Have a great day, and we hope you'll join us tomorrow as Pastor Steve opens God's word to bring us another thought for the day.