Perishes or Endures

The choice we have is so clear. Perishable or Enduring? Which? Choose! Jesus says in John 6:27, "Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man shall give you, for on Him the Father even God, has set his seal." Jesus is not telling us not to work for our food. "If a man will not work he should not eat," Paul tells us. However, cessation of laborious work is associated with the celebration of the Sabbath and the Atonement and other notable events. Work is put in its place. Work is a cycle of life. We earn, consume, and earn more so we can consume more. It sustains earthly life.

When God was pouring out manna from heaven His instructions were to gather enough on the sixth day for two days so that no work was carried out on the Sabbath. And gather only what you would consume each day. Brenda and I found a wonderful place to eat in Bartow on our recent mini-vacation. Fred's Southern Kitchen had it all. Whatever is southern, they had it..and it was about as good as it gets. We visited this place twice. When we sat down our waitress told me that they had two prices. If you left a lot of food on your plate it was one price, but if you cleaned your plate it was another price. Don't waste the food was the message. God had that rule for the Jews. If you gather too much you get maggots. Can you imagine how our spending habits would change if when we bought too much, more than we needed for the day, it became infested with maggots or termites? What if we could see "perishable" happening in living color before our very eyes?

What we see is fading away. Moths and rust belong to this world. Its entropy. It is a planet of death. In John 4 while Jesus was telling the woman at the well about the water that if consumed would provide enduring refreshment, the disciples were in town buying food. When they returned and encouraged Jesus to eat Jesus said, "I have food to eat that you do not know about."(4:32) Knowing they did not understand he explained, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to accomplish his work." (4:34) In John 6 the people wanted to know what the work of God is. "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent." (6:29) The only work that endures is the work that focuses on Jesus and the will of the Father.The rest will turn to dust.