Tuesday, August 6th, 2024
John 6:27 says:
27 Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.”
Recently I read this scripture and found myself going back to it throughout the day. Towards the end of the day God provided some additional clarity for me. He said, “Sometimes you get so hung up on laboring for what is temporary that you have no energy left to labor for what is eternal.” There’s quite a bit there to think about, right?
That word labor in verse 27 means to toil (Strong’s). Webster’s 1828 defines toil as to labor, to work, to exert strength with pain and fatigue of body or mind, with efforts of some continuation or duration. What Jesus is saying here is that instead of exhausting ourselves on things that will fade away we should exert our strength on that which is everlasting. When we work for what perishes it could slip away at any moment and all of our labor will have been for nothing. But when we reach the pinnacle of that spiritual mountain that we have been clawing our way up, our faith is strengthened, we are closer to God, and we just earned another jewel for our heavenly crown. Those are all things that no one can ever take away from us.
As Christians, it should be no surprise that walking God’s path for us is not always roses and sunny days. For many of us, the deeper we go with God we often get greater pressure and attacks from the enemy who is trying to steal, kill and destroy. It takes consistent labor and toiling in the spirit to fight the good fight of faith. Putting on our armor and standing up to the enemy requires work. The cool thing about this work is that it comes with an unlimited supply of strength and peace. God’s word says we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13). It also says that we can have the peace of God which surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4:7).
Final Thoughts…
The enemy loves it when we spend all of our energy on anything other than God and the plans that He has for us. If he can run us ragged chasing after things that fade away, we will be useless when it comes to the race for our eternal crown. So, we have to ask ourselves, where are we toiling? Are there areas where we are burned out and still searching for something? Ask God to show you if you are chasing after food that perishes or food that endures to everlasting life.