April 29

Work... for the meat, which abideth unto eternal life. — John 6:27

Bunyan gives a picture of a man with a muck–rake, working hard, scraping up the rubbish under his feet, not seeing the crown that hangs in the air above his head.

It is a picture of many people in this world. They are toiling and wearing out their life in gathering rubbish out of the dust, not thinking of the divine gifts, the spiritual things, that are in Christ, and which they might have with half the toil and care.

“Bubbles we buy with a whole soul’s tasking;
‘Tis heaven alone that is given away,
‘Tis only God may be had for the asking.”

We ought not to spend our life in picking up things we cannot carry beyond the grave. If we are wise, we shall seek rather to gather treasures we can take with us into eternity. When we take Christ into our heart, we eat the meat, which abideth unto eternal life.