Let's get an adjustment

Jesus said, “I am the Bread of Life. The person who aligns with me hungers no more and thirsts no more, ever. I have told you this explicitly because even though you have seen me in action, you don’t really believe me. Every person the Father gives me eventually comes running to me. And once that person is with me, I hold on and don’t let go. I came down from heaven not to follow my own agenda but to accomplish the will of the One who sent me. (John 6:35)

Have you ever seen God in action and then refused to believe it was him? You credit the happenings to something else like 'fate', 'the universe', 'stars aligning', or 'luck'. How silly of us to think things just happen by 'fate' or 'luck', much less that the 'stars aligning' actually happen without the one who made them actually aligning them! Every person given by the Father to Jesus eventually comes running - that means the more we try to resist or 'explain away' our desire to follow after Jesus, the more we will be pulled toward him!

Once Jesus has heard that "yes, I need you, Jesus" from us, he holds on - not ever willing to let us go. No matter what 'fate' becomes us, he doesn't relinquish his control over us. No matter how many times we would 'explain away' what happens in our lives - his plans are unfolding around and within us. Nothing can separate us from the place we enjoy in his presence - period! What does it mean to align with him? It simply means we begin to cooperate with the presence of God within our lives - giving up on our own agenda in pursuit of the agenda of our heavenly Father.

Apart from Christ, we all follow some form of 'agenda' - maybe one we make for ourselves, or perhaps one that is suggested for us by another. Regardless of where that agenda originates, we aren't going to find satisfaction at the end of the day. Why? We are made to follow a higher agenda! Ever wonder why your day-to-day actions don't seem all that fulfilling, or really bring you a sense of well-being that you desire? It is likely because you aren't really 'aligned' as you are intended to be.

Ever try to walk with your back out of alignment? This tinge and that stabbing pain keeps you from walking upright. You falter in your steps, gimping along. Alignment is important if we are to walk correctly, retaining the appropriate posture, and having everything 'flowing' within us as it should. Probably more important than our spinal adjustment/alignment is our spiritual one! We don't neglect our body's alignment - we seek help when it is out of whack. Why would we neglect our spiritual alignment and not seek to enjoy the most perfect alignment we can? Just askin!

Go ahead...move the pieces

“This, in a nutshell, is that will: that everything handed over to me by the Father be completed—not a single detail missed—and at the wrap-up of time I have everything and everyone put together, upright and whole. This is what my Father wants: that anyone who sees the Son and trusts who he is and what he does and then aligns with him will enter real life, eternal life. My part is to put them on their feet alive and whole at the completion of time.” (John 6:39-40)

I like it when Jesus boils things down to make them very plain - comprehensible to our finite brains. What was handed over to Jesus by the Father? You and I - mankind. What is his purpose in handing us over to Christ? To see that everyone of us is 'put together' - made upright and whole - not wavering in any regard. Align with him - enter real life!

Does that mean all other forms of 'life' are not real? It means that all life without Christ falls far below the potential we could be living within if we chose to align with him instead. Many live far below their potential because they will not change their allegiance - they choose to align with something other than truth, love, and grace. 

Christ's actions on our behalf are to set us on our feet - alive and whole. Not faltering around, bumbling through life. Set upright, made whole, truly alive with the life that comes when his Spirit inhabits our inner man. I think Jesus may have been referring to more than just saying 'yes' to him, but rather to have every part of our being - body, soul, and spirit - aligned with his purposes and his truth.

Body - soul - spirit --- all three parts, not just one or two of the parts. This might mean it is possible to not be 'fully aligned' with Christ and his purposes. Soul might be in the game, spirit kind of pushing us onward, but body more or less weak and unwilling to truly align. You been there? Struggling to get all three into alignment? Maybe it isn't because you lack the 'want to' - you just aren't supposed to be the one doing the alignment!

Read the passage again - it is Christ's role (the part he plays) to make us whole (aligned). We start with making the commitment to follow him - we even take a few steps in the right direction merely in our own will-power - but he is the one to finish the work he started! We get it all wrong when we think we can finish this work of perfect alignment of all the pieces of our life with his - it is his work to help us attain that perfect alignment. Stop struggling to put the pieces all together - let him move those pieces here and there until you begin to see the perfection of his work within you. Just sayin!

Alignment assures the hold

Jesus said, “I am the Bread of Life. The person who aligns with me hungers no more and thirsts no more, ever. I have told you this explicitly because even though you have seen me in action, you don’t really believe me. Every person the Father gives me eventually comes running to me. And once that person is with me, I hold on and don’t let go. I came down from heaven not to follow my own whim but to accomplish the will of the One who sent me. (John 6:35)

I have probably read this passage a hundred times if not more like several hundred, but each time we go through scripture God can bring something new to mind. I think it is because we are more ready to 'see' things or 'hear' things at some times than we are at others. Life's circumstances, our attitude of heart, the removal of distractions, and creating a 'space' for God's presence are just a few things that influence how 'open' we are to what God wants to show us. I am the Bread of Life - how many times have you read that yourself? What does that mean to you? That isn't the portion that jumped out to me today, though. If you read on, you discover a couple of very specific words that caught my attention. Aligns - explicitly - I hold on and don't let go. Those are the words that captured my thoughts for just a while this morning. 

Aligns - the person who 'aligns' with him hungers no more and thirsts no more. We all know this is not a 'physical' hunger or thirst being addressed here, right? It is more than likely a hunger or thirst that is spiritual and even emotional. Yes, emotional! God knows we have many 'hungers' and we 'thirst' for things like feelings of belonging, being appreciated or cherished, and even feeling like we aren't a bother to him. Jesus reminds us today that our 'alignment' with him will do more than just set us right spiritually - freeing us from our sinful pasts, but it actually helps us find that emotional balance we are so desperately craving. To align really symbolizes us bringing our every thought and attitude into 'cooperation' or 'agreement' with how he has created us to live life. It means we don't have to crave belonging any longer because when we align with him, our sense of belonging is not just realized, it is met to the fullest extent.

Explicitly - God doesn't tell us to align with him in a manner that is going to be hard for us to grasp - he tells us our most fulfilled place or sense of belonging is found when we align with him - period. He knows we need to hear this clearly, and even to have it demonstrated in our lives, because we don't need anymore complicated explanations - religious pursuits give us enough of those already! God is 'specific' with us because he knows when we understand it is our 'cooperative' and 'yielded' spirit that brings us into the place of hungering and thirsting no longer, we will not want to wait a moment longer to enter into that place! 

I hold on and don't let go - maybe this is a little odd for me to focus on within this passage, but here is why it caught my attention this morning - God does the holding - we don't. He only asks for us to align with him - like when we turn the two poles of the magnet toward each other - then he pulls us into that closeness with him, much like the magnet attracts and holds the object that is now in alignment with it. As we align ourselves with him, he pulls us closer and closer until that union is not able to be severed. It is a 'firm grip' he has on each of us - we can count on that. No matter how 'feeble' my grip - his is stronger and more capable of holding me even when I feel like I am slipping away! This is indeed good news for us - our grip isn't what matters - it is just our alignment! He does the holding - we just need to do the aligning! Just sayin!