When asked what the Lord had done for him, an old man gathered some dry leaves into a circle. He placed a worm in the center of the leaves and set them on fire. As the flames drew nearer on every side and were about to consume the worm, he lifted it out and placed it on a rock. He then looked up and said, “This is what Jesus Christ did for me.”
In Job 25:4-6 we read, “How then can man be justified with God? or how can he be clean that is born of a woman? Behold even to the moon, and it shineth not; yea, the stars are not pure in his sight. How much less man, that is a worm? and the son of man, which is a worm?” Thus, all of us whom Job calls “worms” would have been condemned to eternal torment as the just reward for our sinful lives, if Christ had not lifted us out of our affliction.
It is just as the old man said, “This is what Jesus Christ did for me.” Jesus took our sins on Himself and carried them to the cross, so that we would not have to suffer eternal separation from God. By doing what He did, He made us righteous in God’s eyes, if only we would obey Him. Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” (John 15.13).
The Hebrew writer said, “…Though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him…” (Heb. 5:8-9). John said, “Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.” (Rev. 22:14).
–adapted from an article at vscoc.org
