Yesterday I went to the grocery store.  I was very hungry (I know, I know, you don’t have to say it).  I bought a package of plain “bagels” from the store bakery so I could eat one on the way home.

I got in the car and took a big bite . . . massive disappointment . . . I don’t know what that was. But it wasn’t a bagel, not even close.  It tasted like “Hawaiian bread” which, even if you like it (and I don’t), is nothing like a bagel.

And I was thinking about that bagel today.  And I was wondering how often I’m like that.  Do I present a certain exterior to the people around me, but, when bitten into, am I a disappointment?  Does my inside live up to what I promise on the outside?

John 13:35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.  Is that what people are getting when they get close enough to see my insides?

I don’t want to just be a bagel on the outside and then something too sweet and fluffy and lacking in substance when you get close enough to see beneath the surface.  I want to be a bagel through and through, dense and chewy and meaningful.

What about you?  What does your outside present to those around you?  Are you insides consistent with your outsides?