"Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.”

So much energy and effort is put into our work and careers, into the stockpiling of wealth, into "getting ahead."  It can even become a case that our non-work hours become filled with thoughts of our job or other types of work - all of which are transitory, all of whose gains are perishable.  We labor incessantly for perishable food.  Now incessant labor cannot be for many things but for one thing.  Our energies, especially when increased, tend to become narrower and narrower so their focus may be more successful: material gain, power, influence, athletic competition, the endless search for entertainment and pleasure.  These are the things by which we feed ourselves.  These things take food to pursue and they generate food in the sense that we live off of our pursuit of them.  What we attain we consume.

Jesus tells us so much in this brief passage.  He tells us to not spend our life's energy pursuing perishable food.  The dimly lit mind will halt here and protest: "what, are we not to feed ourselves and build a home for ourselves in this world?"  But Jesus says "work for the food that endures for eternal life."  The essence of our days energy and our life's focus must be directed either toward material gain or spiritual profits.  For "What does it profit a man to gain the whole world but lose his soul?"  Modern man believes he can both gain the world and keep his soul.  Jesus says otherwise.

If the fundamental energy of the day is spent working for perishable food we are bound to go astray for during the small, seemingly insignificant, moments we will tend to decide for ourselves and our own needs and pursuits.  If our ceaseless labor is directed toward seeking the food that endures for eternal life (God's food - the food which is God) we can still accomplish our earthly work but in the heat of the moment our fundamental decision will be to obey God's commandments and we will not do anything which will jeopardize our faith.

Jesus says "work for the imperishable food which I will give you."  This is so important: we do not feed ourselves, God does.  We must labor for it, however, and often very hard (though only God knows how much effort we are truly putting forth).  This command provides us with a perfect synthesis between grace and human effort.  Some say it is all God's grace, faith is sufficient.  Others say good works are necessary for salvation.  I have never understood this division.  We labor for God's grace.  He promises to feed us if we work for his food.  But it is effort!  It requires real labor and serious changes in how we live our lives.  But the reward - God's food which endures forever - is beyond comprehension.