Perishable Things

While bread is perishable, haven’t we made just about everything else in our lives perishable too?

I just read through John, chapter six for an online Bible study I’m participating in for the next few weeks. I conducted a study on John last year for Lent, so I always find it really interesting to re-read any part of the Bible that I have read carefully before, because I always find myself focusing on something entirely different each time I read it. I highly recommend trying this approach.

Read a chapter of one of the Gospels and take notes. Wait six months and read it again. You will likely come away with something entirely different the second time around. The Bible is a living, breathing document, like the Mona Lisa’ eyes, it meets you wherever you are.

Today, the verse that really jumped out at me was 26. Jesus has just fed the multitudes with the fish and loaves of bread. The crowd tracked him down the next day because they wanted more food. They wanted to see him do it again.

Jesus immediately calls them out. He’s really good about doing that. He was never concerned about political correctness. He always called an ace and ace and a spade a spade. He told them that they only sought him because he physically fed them. Then he said, “But don’t be so concerned with perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you. For God the Father has given me the seal of his approval.” John 6:27 NLT

The word perishable jumped out at me. Jesus was talking about food. The word perishable means liable to spoil or decay. In other words something that rots quickly.

But, in today’s world, aren’t most things perishable? The clothes we purchase this season will be out of style next season and we can’t (or won’t) wear them. The brand new iPhone will be “unusable” to many people this time next year because it’s not the newest thing going. While these things aren’t physically perishable like food, as a society, haven’t we made them perishable?

Our craving and addiction to everything new and shiny has made most of our stuff perishable. We have even made relationships perishable by only focusing on surface things and when we dig deeper and a little time goes by and the going gets a little rough, we bail, making one more situation in our lives perishable.

For the majority of us in this country, perishable food isn’t a huge concern and I don’t want to in any way diminish those who are going without the basic necessities of life, like food. But, for the rest of us, perhaps we should really give Jesus’ words some thought and stop spending our energy on accumulating more stuff that we won’t even want in a year and focus on appreciating what we have and thanking God for providing it as we seek a closer walk with Jesus.

Perhaps we should reevaluate relationships that we are considering throwing away. Relationships shouldn’t be perishable, but it takes work to keep them fresh and vibrant.

Most importantly, we should seek more of Jesus who gives us eternal life. Is there anything really more important to pursue? What will you spend your energy on today?

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂