The Ultimate Alignment

In Olden Dayes automobiles needed to be aligned frequently.  Modern cars no longer need it as much.

Alignment was necessary to:

• Keep you on the road
• Avoid excessive wear and tear
• Stop stress on the steering mechanism
• Reduce the effort at guiding the car on the straight path
• When bad conditions occur, a good alignment will keep you safe
• Reduce the amount of energy needed to keep moving
• Makes any trip you take a smoother ride

When a vehicle was out of alignment it was actually dangerous to itself and those around them.

The metaphor of vehicle alignment and spiritual alignment is significant.  When a Christian is out of alignment, he is no longer tracking parallel to that which he should be.  He is following another force or pressure. He may even be aligning himself with something destructive.  A bad vehicle alignment can result in an accident.  Look at the definitions:

Definition of ALIGN
transitive verb 1 : to bring into line or alignment 2 : to array on the side of or against a party or cause  

intransitive verb 1 : to get or fall into line 2 : to be in or come into precise adjustment or correct relative position 

The past few days the Lord has been using me to shine light on some out of alignment situations.  Light is always how alignments are conducted.  It used to be spotlights, but now the people doing the work use lasers.

IF a person knows the out of alignment circumstances in his or her life and refuses the light shining on them to change, they will become dangerous to themselves and others.

A life out of order is a tragic thing to see.   This isn't about sin.  Sin is the result of bad alignment.  This isn't about teaching or preaching.  I can know everything about the importance of good alignment but if I do not allow the adjustment, I still suffer from misalignment.

One thing about alignment repairs on older vehicles, it was always hard.  The parts were rusty.  The joints often failed.  Sometimes it took a cutting away with fire parts that were there when the vehicle was new to replace them with better parts.  It was painful.

The key to a properly aligned life is first recognizing that the one being lived now is not IN alignment.  AND THEN begin to cut away at the things that are preventing re alignment.  Some will be painful.  Some will take fire.  

IF we do what we must, spiritually, physically, relationally and culturally we will find ourselves in a better place on a smoother road, less stress with more victory to arrive alive.

We don't have to live a misaligned life