If one were to ask a friend, "Why do you work?" the answer would probably be, "To provide for my daily needs and those of my family." Christ Jesus gave to mankind a higher concept of daily work when he said to the people who followed him (John 6:27), "Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you."
In this statement Jesus did not recommend that men should discontinue their daily toil. He indicated that they should make it their first objective to labor for the true meat, the Christ, Truth, which sustains all men "unto everlasting life." In his demonstration of Christ, Truth, Jesus lifted all of his work to a standard of excellence and dignity which not only fed and blessed him spiritually, but also blessed all mankind.
It is recorded of Jesus that the people who observed his work remarked (Mark 7:37), "He hath done all things well: he maketh both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak." It was the power of Christ, Truth, governing his every thought and act, which dignified his earthly life when he talked to the learned men in the temple, when he worked at his trade as a carpenter, and when he performed his mighty healing and redeeming works.
