Cookie Day (11/10/2024)

Today is “Cookie Day” at our church. It is a tradition that weeks before our annual fund raiser, the “Cookie Walk”, that we give away a cookie to everyone in attendance that day. It is our way of paying forward, of giving to others in the hope that they will give of themselves and contribute to the event. It’s a fun day, watching the folks struggle over their choice of snickerdoodle, chocolate chip, or chocolate cookie. And witnessing the children’s joy from a simple cookie is an added bonus.

Our whole lives as Christians could and should be about paying it forward. We get the idea from our beloved Savior, Jesus Christ, who literally gave all He had upon a cross for us and to us. He did it because of His love for the Father Almighty and His love for us. What we do with that gift is up to us. We get to choose if we will accept it and then live it forward. It’s a gift we did nothing to deserve or earn. It’s a gift that if received rightly, though, will change the trajectory of our future.

Daily, we as Christians, walking in the footsteps of our beloved LORD and Redeemer, have the opportunity to bring unexpected goodness into the lives of others. We are called to do it in small ways: praying for another; assisting another in her struggle; giving to another from our own need to him in his; sharing our faith with those who are struggling with their own or those who have none of their own. Our motive is love of the LORD and love of one another. Our walk is to be selfless, but we learn early on that it is more rewarding than we can imagine, just not in the ways we may have expected.

As the Peace Prayer reminds us, “It is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is dying that we are born to eternal life.” The LORD’s way is like that – it requires great trust.

Until tomorrow, let us all love well.