I Smell Fresh Bread…

Recently I was reading Darren Wilson’s book ‘Igniting Furious Love’ and came across a paragraph which made me stop reading and start praying instead. Ever had one of those moments? The paragraph was in a chapter on evangelism by Heidi Baker. She responds to the suggestion that people we come across may not be hungry for Jesus and says, “‘What if nobody is hungry?’ you ask. If you get into the presence, into the intimate presence of God, if you get into the holy place, if you’re connected with Jesus, in love with Jesus, breathing, eating, dreaming with Jesus – then fresh bread, the bread of presence is in your hands and even the rich cannot resist fresh, fresh bread.” And that got me thinking. So many of us get caught up in the latest strategy for evangelism. We listen to multiple sermons on how to reach the lost and how to be more effective at preaching the Gospel. But i think Heidi Baker may be onto something here! The reality is, even if you feel full, if you walk into a bakery where fresh bread is being made, the wonderful aroma is enough to make you start salivating. Just a moment ago you were thinking about how full you felt, but in the presence of the smell of fresh bread even the most self-controlled individual begins to melt. I feel provoked to be someone who carries fresh bread. It’s not good enough for me to describe bread to people – that will not ignite hunger – I hav to be carrying the real deal so that the fragrance will create a hunger in them, even where hunger was previously thought to be absent. Sharing the gospel is not about me following some tick-list of things to say and do, but is about coming to the bread of life, soaking up His presence, learning to carry and host His presence, so that i become the fragrance of Jesus to a lost world – the aroma of fresh bread really is irresistible.