Working for Food That Spoils

John 6:25-33, NIV

When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”

Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.  Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”

Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”

Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do?  Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”

Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven.  For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

                Multiple times now in our journey through John we have heard point beyond temporal things to “eternal” things: 

(1) beyond physical birth to being “born from above” (3:3)

(2) beyond physical water to “living water”  (4:14)

(3) beyond worshiping God in a specific geographical location to worshipping God in “Spirit and truth.”  (4:23)

(4) beyond physical food to “food about which you know nothing about” (4:32)

Now again in the above passage, we hear Jesus point beyond mere bread to the “bread of heaven.” 

                Another recurring theme is that the people who experience Jesus pointing beyond the physical things misunderstand.  Nicodemus, the woman at the well, the disciples, and now the crowd following Jesus around the Sea of Galilee all have trouble grasping what He is trying to teach them.  We modern readers tend to not associate ourselves with these folks who don’t understand these deeper spiritual truths, but the repeated invitation is to look beyond the things we spend most of our time running after.  Jesus does not say that these temporal things are unnecessary.  He asked the woman for physical water and he fed the crowd physical food.  But the real sustenance of life is experienced when our lives become spent on higher pursuits. 

                Spend a few minutes today doing an audit of how you spend your days in this season of life.  Obviously, we have no choice but to take care of the “bare necessities of life.”  But beyond that, what are you doing that is in pursuit of things that will outlive you, things that will not pass away?

Question:  Jesus said that what really nourished His life was “do the will of the one who sent me.”    What nourishes your life beyond physical food?

Prayer:  Lord, help me to see my life from Your perspective – the possibilities, the priorities, the relationships that You invite me to pursue.  Amen.

Prayer Focus:  Pray for the staff and leaders of your church today.

Song:  Dying to Live – Abigail Rose