The Food Is Spoiled!

John 6:27

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.

Have you ever gone into your refrigerator looking for leftovers with your mouth set on tasting what you had previously eaten only to be disappointed with the green moldy stuff growing on top of your food? Food has an expiration period that will not allow it to be kept for long periods of time.

We can’t put our hopes in things that have an expiration date on them. Our problem is that we try to preserve things that were meant to expire. We try to preserve relationships that were seasonal. We try wrap up something that was only supposed to be consumed for one week and you are trying to go back to it next month. Food is the best when it’s consumed fresh and the essential vitamins and nutrients are present. When food sits too long bacteria starts to get in it and it is not as healthy for us as it was when it was fresh.

In Jesus time, they didn’t have refrigerators so you ate everything fresh. That is why Jesus prayed, “Give us this day our daily bread.” When the children of Israel were going through the desert on their way to the Promised Land God gave them daily manna or bread from heaven. If they tried to keep it over night it would spoil and have maggots in it. God was trying to teach them that their dependency should be upon him and not the false security of storing up bread.

Bread also represents that which sustains us. In the 70’s bread was a slang word for cash. Many of us have lost a lot of bread this year and we thought that putting our bread in stocks and in the bank would ensure its safety, but that bread spoiled. Many of the people following Jesus after the miracle of the loaves did so because they wanted more bread but not because they wanted more Jesus. Jesus explained he was the bread of life and that people shouldn’t follow him just for food that spoils but to follow him for food that endures for eternal life.

When we follow Jesus for material things we will continue to stay hungry and often find spoiled food in places we thought it would keep, but when we follow Jesus for the right reasons we will be filled with good things. Our dependency should be upon God to supply our daily bread and not spoil ourselves with material things that take our eyes off God.

1. Oh taste and see that the Lord is good. When we taste of God and see how good He is nothing else compares. He is the only one that can sustain us.

2. Every day with Jesus is sweeter than the day before. When you store up on the word of God it gets better every day. Some leftovers taste better after they’ve been left to marinate overnight but Jesus is the only food that gets better year after year.

3. He is our daily bread. Every morning we ought to seek out Jesus not for what He can give us but because of who He is. In him we move, live, and have our being.

Dear God, feed me 'til I want no more the bread from heaven. I want my labor to be for that which lasts. I want to live for Jesus and I know he will supply all my needs. Thank you for my daily bread.

In Jesus Name,

Amen