The two thousand species of termites are found throughout the world. These insects live in large colonies in dark places and only come out into the open when swarming to establish new colonies. There are three classes of termites in their colonies: workers, reproducers and soldiers.
The workers, along with the baby nymphs, form the largest part of the colony. They never leave the nest, even at swarming time. Their lives are spent tunneling and feeding on wood. They digest the wood and feed it to the king, queen, nymphs and soldiers.
The queen’s responsibility is to provide eggs to keep the colony growing. Soon after mating, she swells up with eggs until she is much larger than the workers. In fact, this load of eggs is so great that she has to finally settle down in her royal chamber where she will stay the rest of her life, producing millions of eggs.
The workers stand by to take the eggs as soon as they are laid. They lick each one clean before placing it in the nursery area. It takes many months for the eggs to hatch and the young termites to fully develop. During development, the nymphs are blind and helpless. They could not survive if the workers did not take care of them by constantly bringing them food.
Most of the soldiers have large, armored heads and fiercely attack enemies. Standing guard over the nest, they often plug the entrances with their heads to keep intruders out.
Termites usually live where it is dark and moist, because they cannot survive under other conditions. Where it is necessary to cross exposed areas, they make tunnels of mud.
In Australia, a species known as “compass termites” builds nests as high as twenty feet above ground. The sides of these nests always face east and west, with the ends pointing north and south. Lost travelers have found their way by using these nests as compasses. Since these nests are exposed to the hot sun, the termites build ventilating flues in them to maintain a constant, cool temperature.
These creatures, seeking dark places and hiding their activities, remind us of those persons who “loved darkness rather than light” (John 3:1919And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. (John 3:19)). They foolishly think they can hide evil deeds. But the Bible says, “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good” (Proverbs 15:33The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good. (Proverbs 15:3)). Our opening verse also reminds us of the One from whom nothing can be hidden.
But we are happy to tell you that the Lord Jesus Christ, who knows all the secrets of our hearts, loves us and invites us to come to Him as the Saviour of sinners. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:99If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)).
ML-12/30/2012