ninjas and vivofits and eternal life

³⁵ Jesus said to [the crowd,] “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. ⁴¹ Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” ⁴² They were saying, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” ⁴³ Jesus answered them, “Do not complain among yourselves. ⁴⁴ No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. ⁴⁵ It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. ⁴⁶ Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. ⁴⁷ Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. ⁴⁸ I am the bread of life. ⁴⁹ Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. ⁵⁰ This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. ⁵¹ I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” Gospel of John 6.

We recently purchased a Ninja.  Not the Japanese fighting kind; though this one slices and dices at high speeds too.  A Ninja is an appliance, a machine that food processes and blends.  All I know is that we can make smoothies now.  I’m not much of a breakfast eater, but a good fruit smoothie works for me. Just add coffee and I‘m good to go.   I guess some smoothies can even include veggies, like kale and spinach.    We unboxed the Ninja and tested it last night, making a variety of smoothies for dinner.  We are overly impressed with this machine.  And the smoothies were delicious, and more importantly the right consistency.  No chunks.  No kale stuck in the teeth.  They were smooth smoothies.  We started imagining things, like starting our weekdays with smoothies that we can take along to school and work.  Smoothies will provide energy and nutrition.  Smoothies will assure a healthy breakfast.  Smoothies will help some of us gain a little weight and some of us lose a little weight.  They’re the magic bullet.  And there’s so much more we can do with the Ninja, that the Ninja can do for us.  Food processing means fresh ingredients.  Better food.  Healthier food.  Stronger bodies.  This is very good.  The Ninja adds value to our lives. 

Jesus says, "I am the bread of life.  Whoever comes to me will never be hungry."

And there’s this.  An activity tracker.  They’re the newest wearable technology.  It tells me when I’m being lazy and I need to get up and move.  It counts steps.  And it monitors my sleep.  It reminds me to get more active and to achieve my fitness goals.  I have fitness goals.  I’ve become interested in cycling.  And I like to run and swim. I may actually work up to a real triathlon, eventually.  Increased personal wellness has become a priority.  In 2014 I had knee surgery and a strange illness that kept me in bed for about two weeks.  I still think it was Lyme disease.  Anyway, so I’m taking matters into my own hands. Daily activity will increase. Walking, running, cycling, swimming.  On the farm we never needed to get more exercise.  Work was enough.  But Americans are relatively sedentary these days, with the health problems to show for it.  I want to lose the beer belly and gain some muscle and some endurance.  Hearth health is the key in my family.  No cancers, just heart issues.  So I can beat this.  Thank you Garmin Vivofit 2, with your partnership I will improve the overall quality of my physical health.

Jesus said,” I am the living bread that came down from heaven.  Whoever eats of this bread will live forever, and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

Is it possible that my present and future life, the good and healthy life that God intends for God’s creatures, depends on Jesus?  Not the Ninja or the Vivofit?  Is it possible that we replace Jesus as the way of life with other things?  Do we seek to secure and satisfy ourselves with things other than Jesus?  We've been taught to believe that the bread of life is not Jesus, its money.  The more one has, the better one’s life becomes.  We accomplish the accumulation of material things that we deem necessary to improve the quality of life, to help us achieve our fitness goals, to improve our youthful appearance, to make us feel better.  We secure our lives with savings, investments, and retirement accounts.  Life is about consumption.  The more one consumes the more life you have in you.  But maybe we believe that we make our own lives, that we save ourselves, that our health depends on smoothies and daily exercise.  

Jesus invites us to satisfy our needs, our longings, our fears, our worries, our health challenges by eating his body and drinking his blood. It is free and simple.  It is small, subtle, and available.  It doesn’t require much technology.  Eat,drink, believe.  Of course, the problem we have with this is the problem some of Jesus’ contemporaries had with it.  Why Jesus?  He’s just another man.  The way to eternal life, to heaven, to the best life, to God has to be something other than a crucified Jewish rabbi from the 1^st century.  The magic bullet must be something else.  Something we do.  Some high achievement of humanity.  Science, medicine, technology, wealth.  These save us. Trusting God alone is not an option. 

The idolatry of the self, the desire to save myself, the insatiable appetite of the consumer ego---this is sin in our age.  A faith perspective sees through Jesus’ eyes. The things we make and use are neither good nor bad. They are things.  And they can prevent us from seeing the daily work of God in our lives.  Life is not found in the Ninja, the vivofit, or the 401 K.  It is found in a person.  Life is personal.  Whether we need to get rid of things to clear a way for God is also personal. These things can also enhance our lives and our relationship with God, especially when they allow us to serve others.  We give ourselves and our things to the people we are called to love.  Faith is all about perspective.  If things have replaced God as the source of happiness, freedom, health, and peace in your life then hear this good news: 

Jesus says, “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life.  I am the bread of life.”