The Christian's Labor - Jn 6:27

Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him. [John 6:27]

Jesus here bids us to labor, to work for true bread.  What kind of work is this, and how is it done?  Antinomians beware!  Our lives as Christians are not meant for slack and ease, but for work.

Now it is clear that we are saved through faith, "not of works, lest any should boast."  But true saving faith will change us into those who obey and serve God, not leave us in sins. We are certainly not Christ's if we have no good fruit and no good works to show for it.

"Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments." [1 John 2:3]

"If our faith does not make us hate sin and wean us from it", as Spurgeon once said, "it is not the faith of the elect."  God has saved us and made us His workmanship "for good works in Christ".  [Eph 2:10]

The Jews wanted to work. They were a people of good works.  They rightly asked, "What shall we do that we may work the works of God?"  But the answer did not suit them.

Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent."

 There it is: believing in Jesus is the first and most important work of a believer.  Not believing everything, but believing in Jesus. The Christian faith isn't mere credulity or superstition. It has to have a single object, Jesus Christ, and all that He said and did, as well as all that is written in the Scriptures He preached.

Aha! That, then, is the work.  To believe, we must read and fill our minds with the Scripture, as He did.  Bible study emerges as a very important spiritual food.  For this reason the Apostles wrote things like, "Study to show yourself approved," and, "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."  The O.T. Psalmists taught the same: "Thy word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You!" and, "Blessed is the man ... [whose] delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night."
  The work of God is to believe all that is written. It is not a stretch to assume that if we believe it, then to pass it on to others is a natural result. Who wouldn't share such goodness from God, such abundant and pristine fruit, such an overflowing cornucopia of Truth and wisdom of ancient words, so freely given  ... if he really believed it?
But first and foremost, we must BELIEVE, not doubting, praying without ceasing, hoping, trusting, obeying.  Often, though it sounds odd, outward, mechanical service that is more out of duty and discipline can lead to and nurture the spiritual obedience that comes from faith.  I say this with reservations, because these can also mask a lack of faith and keep a Christian from maturing.  But God is served by those who keep his commands, even if they don't know the Law, much better than by those who know the Law and yet do not obey it. The house on the Rock stood firm because the builder put Jesus' teaching into practice, not because he was deeply spiritual.
God's work is ready. He has prepared good works for me. The fields are white unto harvest, but the fruit falls to the ground and rots because there are no workers.  Oh, Lord, send workers into thy harvest fields.  Here am I, send me! AMEN