Today, the boys are bringing snacks to share at preschool because their birthday was last Thursday. Micah chose cupcakes that look like Lightning McQueen. Levi chose bacon.
Kelly ran this plan by their teacher, who said it’s fine but also a first. No preschooler has ever brought bacon as a snack before.
We’ve noticed Levi gets really excited when it’s his day to bring the snack. I think it is because he enjoys certain foods so much, and he naturally wants to share his love of food with his classmates.
In his mind, if there is a food he gets excited about, then it is a food that everyone will love just the same. And it gives him great pleasure to share that amazing food, to see his friends enjoy the food that he enjoys.
I think he’s on to something, and I’m pretty sure he’s picked what might possibly become the best snack ever. Bacon has got to be one of the greatest blessings the good Lord has bestowed upon us; talk about “Good Mood Food!”
There’s another lesson Levi is teaching us, related to evangelism. We have made evangelism all about sharing certain information, about finding ways to manipulate conversations and persuade people to see things the way we do, and convincing them to make the right decision with the information we’ve provided. Evangelism is something we need extensive training to do correctly; it is something we need extraordinary giftings to do well; honestly, it is something that most of us dread doing or at the very least makes us squirm.
In the same way that Levi is simply being a witness: “Hey friends, here’s this awesome food; come enjoy it with me,” we should simply (and naturally) be a witness: “Hey friends, let me introduce you to this guy Jesus; want to hang out with me as I spend time with Him?”
But this is not a simple or natural thing for most of us to do… or we would already be doing it. Maybe part of our hang-up is that we simply do not enjoy Jesus as much as we do bacon. Or at least as much as I enjoy bacon.
So let me offer this prayer for you and for me (which is incredibly ironic since bacon was a no-no for the Jews in Jesus’ day!), “May Jesus be to our souls, what bacon is to my stomach.”
