Ladybug Lessons

My 5 year old, Cici, received a ladybug habitat for her birthday earlier this month, complete with ladybug larva. I was excited to watch the changes occur, while at the same time thinking "great, something else to try and keep alive!"

The larva soon changed to pupa, and then hung upside down from the habitat waiting to molt from their shells into ladybugs. Soon 2 ladybugs emerged, busily crawling all over the habitat. The third ladybug seemed to break from her pupa shell, but was stuck. After two days, I assumed she was dead and went to remove her from the habitat. She wiggled.

I removed the pupa shell/ladybug and began trying to free the ladybug from her old shell. It was hard work, but I did the best I could. I gave her some water, and she drank it. I put her back into the habitat. She flipped over, feet up, and laid there. She still had too much of her old self stuck to her to stand up. The next day, I again removed her from the habitat and peeled away more old shell, and gave her more water. This time she was able to stand upright. She now eats & drinks and crawls around the habitat, although not as quickly as the others. She was saved.

Do you have any friends who are stuck in their old self? It's hard to confront friends who we see stuck in sin. But if we leave them there in sin, as if I'd left the ladybug in her old shell, they could die. It's up to us to try to remove them from the old self and give them living water...Jesus.

In Luke 20, some men brought their paralytic friend to Jesus to be healed. Unable to make their way through the crowd, they climbed up on the roof, and lowered the man down to Jesus. "When Jesus saw their faith, he said, "Friend, your sins are forgiven." (Luke 5:20). Seeing THE FRIENDS faith, he forgave the paralytic man of his sins.

Do you have a friend who needs help. Intercede on their behalf today.

One final thought. Even though I helped the ladybug all I could, she still could have died. (she didn't). Sometimes our friends refuse to leave their old self. They are truly in bondage. Sometime we have to turn it completely over to God and just pray for them. Do what you can. You can lead them to Christ. But you can't make them accept him.

You can lead your friends to living water...but you can't make them drink.

Luke 5:18-20 -- Some men came carrying a paralytic on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus. When Jesus saw their faith, he said, "Friend, your sins are forgiven."

John 4: 10, 13-14 -- Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water." (the woman, confused, asks Jesus about drawing water from the well, he replies) "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."