Bagels for Breakfast

John 13:35 “By this shall all men know ye are my disciples, 

if ye have love one to another.”

   A new bakery opened in our city, and they have bagels. The aroma in the bakery is divine; and the little shop is simple and native, with chairs in the open air. It certainly is nothing like the lovely table in this Internet picture with this elegant Russian tea set.

    It's been a long time since we had a bagel. I made them once. After a full day's work of making the dough, waiting for them to rise, boiling them, letting them cool and finally baking them, we enjoyed the fruits of my labor. That's a lot of work just for a bagel; I decided we didn't need bagels for breakfast. This new bakery ensures I will never slave over a boiling pot to make bagels again, not that I ever had a second thought about it.

   When I first saw this new temptation I thought they looked similar to a bagel, but they didn't look like the bagels I remembered from the states. Then I tasted the round mounds of golden baked dough... sure enough they were every bit as scrumptious as the memories I had of them. There are all sorts of varieties, and I am sure we'll go back for more. They are something different for us, but something familiar from home. Imagine, bagels for breakfast in Bolivia.

   When I began looking for a picture of a bagel on the Internet I was quite surprised by their appearance. These Bolivian bagels looked exactly like stateside bagels. I had forgotten what a bagel looked like. Occasionally we forget an English word, or maybe a product like Kraft Cheese or Lay's Potato chips, but the form of a bagel? It seems hard to imagine the shape of a bagel can be forgotten. Maybe it was just a senior moment, but it was a definite lapse of recognition of a bagel. 

   I wonder if the world is forgetting what a Christian looks like. Just how do people know we are Christians? We come in all varieties, God made us each different and for a specific purpose. Some of us are elegant, some super intelligent or beautiful, but most of us are just ordinary. But, ordinary people can accomplish extraordinary things through God, just by showing His love.

   Do people recognize us as Christians? Or have they forgotten what we should look like, just as I forgot what a bagel should look like. The Bible says they'll know we are Christians by our love for one another. How are we showing that love so others will see the love of God in us? 

    Is the world forgetting what a Christian looks like because of our lack of love for one another? We may be just "ordinary bagels", but when we show the love of God through our lives the world will see our secret ingredient, Jesus, and want Him too. Let's not keep Him a secret, but demonstrate His love to others.

    Let the world taste and see real love, the love of God. Maybe we could share a bagel with someone who needs a listening ear or a loving friend who cares. In my neck of the woods (mountains), I can share a bagel with someone who doesn't know bagels exist and really is hungry. When we share and care, we look like Christians, and we won't be ordinary to that person who feels God's love through a bagel. 

   Jesus broke bread and taught the people;

     we can slice a bagel and share His teachings.