A new viewpoint. Generally, we like to see butterflies with wings extended thus showing off the colours and patterns that make them so spectacular. This one is part of the Owl Butterfly species, with patterns and “eyes” on the underside- and brilliant electric blue tops of their wings. You can see the colour breaking out…

So the photo is intriguing AND disappointing at the same time!

I have concluded that many of the truths and insights of the Christian faith are like this “on edge” butterfly. We get hints; partial revelation that promises “more to come.”

Jesus announces the coming of the Kingdom of God. It is here, it is growing, but its fulfilment is “not yet.” We begin to follow Jesus with a handful of faith and a bagful of questions. Our footsteps are stumbling, yet we keep on getting back up and we learn from the Master as we travel.

We read the Scriptures and marvel: and there is always more to find. The old Puritans said “There is yet more light to break forth from His Word.” We never manage full understanding- but we will find wisdom.

Our eternal life has begun in Christ. There is so much more for us to enter into! Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 2 v9f –

“We, of course, have plenty of wisdom to pass on to you once you get your feet on firm spiritual ground, but it’s not popular wisdom, the fashionable wisdom of high-priced experts that will be out-of-date in a year or so. God’s wisdom is something mysterious that goes deep into the interior of his purposes. You don’t find it lying around on the surface. It’s not the latest message, but more like the oldest- what God determined as the way to bring out his best in us, long before we ever arrived on the scene. The experts of our day haven’t a clue about what this eternal plan is. If they had, they wouldn’t have killed the Master of the God-designed life on a cross. That’s why we have this Scripture text: No one’s ever seen or heard anything like this, Never so much as imagined anything quite like it- What God has arranged for those who love him. But you’ve seen and heard it because God by his Spirit has brought it all out into the open before you. The Spirit, not content to flit around on the surface, dives into the depths of God, and brings out what God planned all along. Who ever knows what you’re thinking and planning except you yourself? The same with God- except that he not only knows what he’s thinking, but he lets us in on it. God offers a full report on the gifts of life and salvation that he is giving us. We don’t have to rely on the world’s guesses and opinions. We didn’t learn this by reading books or going to school; we learned it from God, who taught us person-to-person through Jesus, and we’re passing it on to you in the same firsthand, personal way.”
(Message Translation by Eugene Peterson)