Isa 66:23 And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD.
Isa 66:24 And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.
I awoke this morning thinking about my flesh, my worm...that Jesus felt like a worm (and was a worm?), as foreseen by David written by him in Psalm 22:
Psa 22:6 But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.
It got me pondering about this passage:
Mar 9:43 And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:
Mar 9:44 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
Mar 9:45 And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:
Mar 9:46 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
Mar 9:47 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire:
Mar 9:48 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
What is my worm...was Jesus a worm too? I thought of butterflies. A butterfly starts out as a caterpillar, a worm. It has to die in a chrysalis in order to be a butterfly. If the worm doesn't die, it won't be a butterfly. That transformation is miraculous. A worm does not die and become a butterfly by willing it to be so, it is surrendering to something that causes it to be so.
The worm in the picture above is kinda cute...and maybe I imagine "my worm" that way, kinda cute and loved by God...kinda reminds me of this guy (from the movie "Labyrinth"):
and in the movie, this little guy strikes me as an old fella, one that decided to pass on becoming a butterfly ...but to get back to topic, my worm is something terrible and offensive to God. I might want to imagine that it is cute and cuddly and inoffensive and having something that is redeemable in it. But God in His word says it is terribly wicked and needs to be killed, it needs to die, and be transformed into a NEW CREATION. Something completely new and whole. Something as different as a butterfly has absolutely no resemblance to the old caterpillar that it was before.
I've been noticing lately what a struggle my flesh puts up. It does not want to let go. It wants supremacy. It wants me to be noticed and get credit for my just due....but my just due is hell. That is what my flesh deserves. Do I want my worm to keep living? Do I want to get what my glorying in myself deserves? Or do I want that worm, that flesh, to die?
Lord, I know I cannot make it happen, only you have that power to perform such a miraculous thing. I pray that you will cause my worm surrender to You. Make my worm to die, so that the fire is quenched and my soul refreshed in You.
Some other previous posts about butterflies:
http://susanflutterbys.blogspot.com/2011/03/what-is-flutterby.html
http://susanflutterbys.blogspot.com/2011/03/fragility-and-strength.html
http://susanflutterbys.blogspot.com/2011/03/sinister-side-of-butterflies.html
http://susanflutterbys.blogspot.com/2011/04/sinister-side-of-butterflies-ii-monarch.html
http://susanflutterbys.blogspot.com/2011/05/sinister-side-of-butterflies-iii.html#comment-form
I think we downplay Jesus's humanity sometimes. I know it is very hard to picture the son of God being a worm, but if He is truly our kinsman redeemer He had to "be tempted in all ways" like scripture says.
ReplyDeleteDeep stuff.
It's all very mind-boggling, and through it all I still want it to somehow relate back to something good that I did....but then I'm very reminded of all the BAD that I did... and it brings me back to knowing that it really is about something very profound and amazing that Jesus did. How amazing? We probably won't know just how amazing His grace is until we see Him and are changed into His likeness through and through. Oh happy day! :)
DeleteAnd about Jesus being made sin for us? I'm not sure if I'll ever understand that, that God, perfect in every way, could become part of His sinful and sin-filled creation...how is that possible? So to God, all things are possible.
DeleteHi Susan,
ReplyDeleteSome interesting points.
It really struck me when you said, I've been noticing lately what a struggle my flesh puts up. It does not want to let go. It wants supremacy. It wants me to be noticed and get credit for my just due....but my just due is hell. That is what my flesh deserves. Do I want my worm to keep living? Do I want to get what my glorying in myself deserves? Or do I want that worm, that flesh, to die?
Our flesh deserves hell and we are told to deny flesh, yet the pull of the flesh is so strong. I am a very 'feeling' oriented person. I have to be so careful because Satan takes our feelings and really twists them.
Some good things to be thinking on. Thanks for sharing.
Blessings,
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I recently saw somewhere in my cybertravels a quote by someone who said "If you want a test on how moral you really are observe your reaction when someone else gets the credit for your anonymous donation"....
Delete...I can just imagine myself in such a circumstance, and I can honestly say I would want to "set the record straight". And my flesh would reason "And why not? We are talking about the TRUTH and proper credit going where it is supposed to go"
My flesh is NOT pretty, not at all. So why do I let it terrorize me like that? Much better to trust in the Lord, and let Him get the credit (which is only the REAL truth anyway), all of it, and leave it there with Him? Sigh...
Stacie posts more thoughts about the worm/butterfly here:
ReplyDeletehttp://afirefighterswife.blogspot.com/2012/10/understanding-struggle.html
Thanks Ma, will check it out <3
Delete:)
Beautiful post! I didn't know that a worm dies inside a chrysalis. I thought it just morphed, or something, lol. I love how you worded the following: "A worm does not die and become a butterfly by willing it to be so, it is surrendering to something that causes it to be so." So true. Ephesians 2:5 tells me that I was already dead, dead in sin. I can't even take credit for being dead. I couldn't even have chosen to be dead or alive. Dead people can't chose, or even surrender, come to think of it. A butterfly is a miracle. Christ calling me forth, out of the tomb - a miracle! I was a dead worm! It's all about God!! It's all about grace! Worthy is the lamb! And one fine day, all stinking sin will die, and Christ will reign. Blessings!
ReplyDeleteHi Petra,
Delete"I didn't know that a worm dies inside a chrysalis. I thought it just morphed, or something, lol."
I slightly messed up that metaphor... truly it doesn't *actually* die, it goes into a suspended (coma-like, death-like) state, but in that process the caterpillar ceases to be because it becomes something totally different.
Even in my early born again days, I knew there was something not quite right about thinking that being born of the spirit depended on my decision or ability. How did I know that? The Lord must have whispered that to me. :)
Thanks for visiting Petra :) love your blog also <3