Warm New York bagels right out of the oven—nothing quite like it accompanied by a fresh brewed cup of coffee on a lazy Saturday morning. I’ve tasted bagels in other parts of the country, but New York has the real deal with its crusty crunch of the glaze sprinkled with assorted toppings like sesame seeds, poppy seeds, garlic flakes, or kosher salt. I usually get the “everything” bagel having a little of each because I can’t seem to make up my mind as to a favorite.
As I savored my bagel slathered with butter this morning, I thought about the difference between the real and the almost real. You can pull a bagel wannabe off the grocery store shelf or frozen food section, but they are usually small and mushy, having only the general shape in common with an authentic bagel. Once you have had the real, the almost real is easy to turn down. What else could be either real or almost?
It reminds me of spiritual encounters. Once you have experienced real encounters with the Holy Spirit, you are spoiled forever (in a positive way). Whether it is in worship, Bible study, preaching, ministry, or prayer, you no longer settle for the “almost.” Your search is always for His presence, and nothing else comes close to authentic communion with the lover of your soul.
As you develop your history with God, the real and the almost become quite apparent. You can spot an imitation attempt at leading people in worship, even ones that supposedly are well-meaning, or ones that are sort of on their way but fall short. You know that louder is not always better. You can tell when the preaching is out of the prophetic hearing from heaven for the right word or the sermon that has been either dredged out of a back-up file or a lot of enthusiastic shouting that amounts to rambling, appealing more to surface emotion than depth of spirit. You know when a prophetic word is straight from heaven or one that is active imagination, or worse, showmanship. When you know the Spirit of God, He bears witness with your spirit. “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy,” (Jude 1:24). Go for the real. He never disappoints.