Today's Devotional • Back to Home Page
May 29
Special Devotional
Scripture: “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”—Psalm 22:1
"...But I am a worm—the Hebrew word tôlāʿ, the crimson worm—and not a man."—Psalm 22:6
Tôlāʿ
The Crimson Worm
A Picture of Christ
I heard something today that stopped me in my tracks.
I wasn’t looking for it.
I wasn’t studying it.
It simply found me — a video of a woman explaining something I had never heard in all my years of walking with the Lord.
She said that when Jesus cried out on the Cross,
“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
He was quoting Psalm 22 — the Messianic psalm that describes crucifixion long before crucifixion existed.
And then she focused on verse 6:
“But I am a worm…”
The Hebrew word there is not a regular worm.
It is tôlāʿ — the crimson worm.
And what this little creature does is almost unbelievable.
The Crimson Worm’s Life — A Living Prophecy
The mother crimson worm climbs up a tree or wooden post on purpose, knowing she will never come down alive. She attaches herself so firmly to the wood that she cannot be removed without tearing her body apart.
She forms a hard crimson shell — a covering — and inside that shell she gives life to her young.
For three days, her children feed on her body.
Her life becomes their life.
And then she dies.
When she dies, a crimson stain flows from her body and marks the wood beneath her.
After three days, the stain dries and turns white, flaking off like snow.
This is not symbolism.
This is not poetry.
This is a real creature God designed.
And every detail points to Christ.
Christ in the Crimson Worm
She climbs the tree willingly.
Jesus set His face toward the Cross.She attaches herself to the wood.
No one took His life — He laid it down.Her body becomes a covering.
His blood covers us.Her children live by feeding on her.
“This is My body, given for you.”She dies after three days.
Three days in the tomb.The crimson turns white.
“Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow.”
I listened to the story four times.
I had never heard anything like it.
And I sat there amazed that God wrote the Gospel into a worm — a tiny creature whose entire purpose is to climb a tree and give its life so others may live.
Reflection
Jesus didn’t just die for us.
He became the sacrifice — willingly, purposefully, lovingly.
He embraced the Cross.
He gave His life.
He shed His blood.
He washed us clean.
All so we could live.
Breath Prayer
Inhale: You climbed the tree for me.Exhale: Your life became my life.
Scripture References
“He climbed the tree.”John 10:17–18 — No man taketh it from Me… I lay it down of Myself.
Philippians 2:8 — He became obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross.
Hebrews 12:2 — Who for the joy set before Him endured the Cross.
“He embraced the Cross.”
Isaiah 53:7 — He opened not His mouth.
Luke 9:51 — He set His face steadfastly to go to Jerusalem.
John 19:17 — And He bearing His Cross went forth…
“He gave His life.”
Mark 10:45 — To give His life a ransom for many.
Ephesians 5:2 — Christ… gave Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice.
Galatians 2:20 — Who loved me and gave Himself for me.
“He shed His blood.”
Matthew 26:28 — This is My blood… shed for many for the remission of sins.
Hebrews 9:22 — Without shedding of blood is no remission.
1 Peter 1:18–19 — Redeemed… with the precious blood of Christ.
“He washed us clean.”
Isaiah 1:18 — Though your sins be as scarlet… they shall be white as snow.
Revelation 1:5 — Unto Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood.
Revelation 7:14 — They… made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
1 John 1:7 — The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin.
Scriptures that directly echo the Crimson Worm imagery
Psalm 22:6 — I am a worm, and no man…
Isaiah 53:5 — He was wounded for our transgressions…
Hebrews 9:14 — He offered Himself without spot to God.
John 15:13 — Greater love hath no man than this…
Comments
Post a Comment