Food For Life

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

FOOD FOR LIFE

John 6:22-27

22 The next day the crowd that had stayed on the opposite shore of the lake realized that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not entered it with his disciples, but that they had gone away alone. 23 Then some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 24 Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus. 25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, "Rabbi, when did you get here?" 26 Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval."

NIV

This is only the first part of the exchange between Jesus and the crowd that had just been fed, but it has enough in it for us to see the truth for our lives. The body of water called Tiberias is the Sea of Galilee and it is around the town of Capernaum where much happened. There must have been a lot of boats that showed up for five thousand men plus how every many women and children to get into and cross over to the other side in search of Jesus. However, the point is they were in search of Jesus. True, it might have been because he fed them a while ago and now they are were hungry again. Isn’t that a bit like it could be with us? We search for Jesus when we have a need, but if all is well and we are well fed we sort of give up on the search. We only search or pray earnestly when we have a need or when we pray we are always asking for something. Maybe we should just pray he will be glorified, praise him in prayer. But then Jesus said for us to ask the Father for anything in his name. Getting back to the narrative we see they were wondering when he got to the other side as they had only seen the one boat the disciples took and Jesus was not with them. How could he have gotten to the other side so quickly without a boat, it was a very long walk around the Sea. But Jesus speaks right to the core of the issue, just as he did with Nicodemus, who didn’t even ask him a question. He told them the reason they were searching for him was not because of the miracle he did in feeding them, but because they ate until they were full. It comes back to wanting our physical needs met. But Jesus speaks about spiritual matters, spiritual needs. Here is the concept of working for food that spoils comes to rest in the culture we live in today. The world around us is all about working for that which spoils. It is about storing up our grain, building bigger barns, so we can sit back, take life easy, and enjoy the fruit of our labor. But how many have we seen work all their lives, store up as much as they can, retire and die? Sure some get to spend it, but that is not the point. Jesus is making the point that working for those things of the world, material, and physical gains will spoil, they can be gone in a moment. We should be working for the things of God, searching for the bread of life. Now, it seems we might try to do both. We accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior and still work for the food that spoils. After all, we now have this eternal life, and so we can go after the temporal life stuff, have the best of both worlds, so to speak. Somehow that just does not sound like the right way to approach life. Jesus said that we cannot serve two masters, it is not a matter of “and”, it is a matter of, “either/or”. One or the other has to be our master. Does that mean we should not have anything, that we should be poor and homeless? No, Jesus will provide that which we need. He says we should not worry about what we will wear or what we will eat, God cares for us more than the lilies of the field.  Sure, we need to work for our income, to able to buy food, clothes and the things needed to live, but even our jobs, careers, positions should be seen as from the hand of God, rather then from the work of our hands, or our will. We should not be anxious about our life, worried about how we live, God will take care of us, he will make a way when there is no way. Our focus should always be about doing the work of God, which we are going to see exactly what that is in the rest of this narrative that follows. But for now, let us work for that which endures to eternal life.