For many Americans, the rat race is chewing them up and spitting them out. They live exhaustive, repetitive days with no contentment. Living an unfulfilled, unchallenged, uninspired, and pointless life, all to pay the bills and maybe get ahead. Just working to put bread on the table for one’s family has become increasingly more difficult. Many feel trapped and unsatisfied in the daily grind but yearn for something to live for—to live a worthwhile life.
Are you ready to throw in the towel? Are you impulsively racing around trying to reach an undefined destination lacking a clear life purpose? If so, Jesus has the solution.
In chapter six of John’s Gospel, Jesus feeds the 5,000. This miraculous sign reveals His power as the Christ and points to Him as the Bread of Life. Many in the crowd were overwhelmed with their focus on their immediate circumstance in satisfying their hunger, and they tragically missed the truth being candidly revealed.
Have you missed it as well?
In verse 27, Jesus drives home the significance of the event. He states, “do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.” The crowd of wanting and hungry people were too preoccupied with their routine physical needs to see their most significant overwhelming need—a need for a Savior. The Scriptures remind us that a purpose-filled, meaningful life involves much more than scrambling to secure the daily necessities.
For many, this spiritual nourishment is missing, but it is essential to escape the rat-race existence.
When one has experienced Jesus as Lord and Savior, the Redeemer sent by God, it comprehensively changes one’s reason for living. Jesus declares in verse 35, “I am the Bread of Life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.”
John Piper says, “Jesus offers himself to us freely as the food that endures to eternal life. He did the work on the cross. (Salvation is an unearned and unmerited gift.) All we can do is eat, that is, believe, and live. And when we eat, two things change: a new chapter is added to our lives, eternity. And a new Treasure dominates our heart, Jesus. And that changes everything.”
Work is not solely a materialistic pursuit but a soul revealing endeavor.
Once Christ is your all-satisfying Bread from Heaven, it transforms life and, in turn, your perspective on work. Knowing Jesus Christ as your crucified risen Savior, you have tasted the Bread of Life. The food that perishes and the concerns of the rat race no longer dominate your mindset. Your work life now has a purpose and a new vision. To serve and honor Christ in all you do now drives and motivates you. The challenges regarding work and one’s personal life haven’t changed, but your point of view and outlook have.
Suddenly, work looks different. There has been a radical change in priorities and how you view yourself and others. By knowing Jesus, living for Him and being satisfied in Him, you can work with a renewed spirit, seeing work as a platform to serve Christ and others. This brings true satisfaction to one’s soul. You can see through the constant struggles, employment issues and distractions with a zeal and joy desiring to honor God alone.
Working and living for something beyond yourself will bring new fulfillment to your life. The self-focused myopic rat race has now been replaced with a fresh start and a renewed lease on life!
Christ’s point is simple: all material things will eventually pass away. Rather than being absolutely consumed by earthly circumstances, our focus needs to be heavenward, working with an eternal perspective.
Done with the rat race? Consider the transforming power of Jesus.