In John 6, Jesus miraculously fed 5,000 hungry mouths with five loaves and two fish.

That same crowd hunted Jesus around the countryside and found him the very next day, and in that

second encounter Jesus took an opportunity to teach them the distinction between the

bread the parishes, like they got the day before, and the bread that never parishes, namely Christ

Himself.

He pled urgently with them so strongly he commanded them this in John 6.27.

Do not work for the food that parishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life,

which the Son of Man will give to you.

So the question is, should we labor and work to buy bread?

Should we work at all, or should we trust God to supply all of our bread needs supernaturally?

The answer to this question actually sheds much light on how we work in labor each day,

as John Piper explains in his 2009 sermon.

Here he is.

What does the first clause in verse 27 mean?

Do not labor for the food that parishes.

Now this is mainly for you believers.

You who've eaten, you who've tasted, and you're wondering what's the implication of this

for my job, my 8 to 5, my 9 to 6, my 60 hour a week job, my home making, my mothering,

my student life, what does he mean, don't labor for the bread that parishes.

That's what he says, don't labor for the bread that parishes, and clearly he means ordinary

food, because that's what verse 26 says is the context.

You are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of ordinary

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