In ancient times, a small insect, a tiny species of worm, which looks more like a maggot/vermin, was responsible for giving color and value to high-end textiles. It was very difficult to find dyes to color fabrics, and, when found, they would often be priced as much as gold.

Usually the deepest and brightest colors were used to make robes for kings, and there is a curious fact behind one of these colors in particular.

Records of the origin of this species date back to the Persian Empire, when the word kermes appears as carmine, vermilio (red), and means “worm-made”. The pigment known today as Kermes is the natural form of crimson, which is extracted from worms that have the same name.

Do not stop reading this article now, because here is where the story of this small and insignificant being gets interesting.

When this scarlet worm is ready to lay its eggs, it attaches itself to the trunk of a tree, more specifically, the Kermes oak found in the Mediterranean region. It secures itself very firmly because it already knows it will not come back down that tree alive. It is a voluntary sacrifice.

Its eggs, which are birthed beneath its body, remain protected until they hatch and are able to go off on their own. When the worm dies, it secretes a crimson fluid that stains its body and the wood around it.

The most valuable dyes were extracted from the dead bodies of these worms to make robes for people who were considered important, significant and honored.

This mommy worm has several lessons to teach us in our daily practice of motherhood. But I believe that you, just like me, were reminded of the LORD JESUS while reading about this worm.

To see the Salvation of your family, you have to be securely attached to Him.

He made Himself small and insignificant to save mankind. He secured Himself to Calvary to give His life for us. His crimson blood covered us, made us valuable, kings and priests unto God. And indeed, before coming into this world He had created Kermes ilicis, and He even compared Himself to her (Isaiah 1.18, Psalm 22.6).