Do not labor for the food that perishes. Labor Day has been a national holiday in America for 87 years.

And the purpose of Labor Day is to honor the working people of our land.

In 1956 a commemorative stamp was published, you can see it in the world book where I saw it and on this stamp there's this huge man with muscles bulging out all over with sledgehammer, a pick, an axe, and a hole over his left shoulder,

with ropes hanging over these things.

He seated at his side is his wife, a little child standing in the front with a book in her lap and she's evidently teaching him to read.

And then down in the right-hand corner is a block with the words of Carlisle carved into it,

labor is life.

And I think the meaning of that is plain and true,

namely, without industrious labor, there will be no daily life.

You won't be able to provide food, clothing, and shelter, and education for yourself or your family.

But it's an amazing thing and a disconcerting thing to me how a true statement can become misleading and

disastrous to generations if it's separated from other true statements, an isolated all by itself.

If, when you think of your life, you think mainly in terms of food, clothing, shelter,

transportation, education, toys, recreational gear, then the statement labor is life will mean to

you that you should expend your effort to procure these things for yourself and your family.

But, even though it seems so natural to us to put in our 40 hours a week precisely to that end Jesus comes along

and says something so startling is do not labor for the bread that perishes.

And I don't think he means it's okay to labor for houses that perish and books that perish and clothes that perish just food.

That's obviously not the point.

Anything that perishes, anything that wears out, anything that is of no eternal value, don't work for that.

Don't labor for the bread that perishes.

Don't labor for house.

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