by R. T. Holmes
"How much less man, that is a worm? And the son of man, which is a worm?" (Job 25:6)
God has created certain soil organisms that are essential to maintain soil fertility. Some of these are beetles, centipedes, and earthworms. Healthy soil always has a large number of earthworms; they improve the soil structure when feeding and burrowing, and increase aeration and drainage.
Our master Gardener was the only one that knew how to, or could, make the soil of our souls good again so we could live and grow. He did this by becoming a "worm" Himself (Psa. 22:6). He became what we are, so that we might become what He is (Job 25:6, Isa. 41:14).
He consumed all our worms (our sins) so that we wouldn't have to feed on them forever (Mk. 9:44); worms such as self-righteousness, self-confidence, self-dependence, and self-esteem. "Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves" (Phil. 2:3). "For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh" (Phil. 3:3).
The Lord allowed Himself to be buried in the earth, hidden from all sight as a worm. But in that terrible darkness - forsaken by His God for our sins (Matt. 27:46), He was working to aerate the soil, making it fit once again for us to live in and grow.
The worm spoken of in Job is not the earthworm though, but the maggot. Maggots feed on filth; it is God's created creature to "clean up" His creation, and we desperately need cleaning up (Isa. 64:6).
This is the "worm" that was eating away Job's flesh (Job 7:5). Job's sores were produced by a disease called elephantiasis, a kind of leprosy, which bred maggots and fed on his rotting flesh. This is why he speaks of himself in Job 17:14-16 as his father being corruption, and his mother and sister as worms. He is losing hope of living any longer upon the earth.
Let us not feel badly about being worms. We are His worms, needful for the life of the world to clean up its filth by prayer and the preaching of the gospel (Job. 42:8, 10).
The Lord cleaned up our worms with His blood; surely we shouldn't mind cleaning up our own worms now with the help of His spirit, keeping the ground good so that we can bear fruit for our precious Lord that is not diseased and eaten by worms (Rom. 8:13-14).