Want a Cookie? By Pamela Walck

“Want a cookie?” A bunch of college-age kids were passing around a bin of chocolate chip cookies as my sister, my mom, and I sat waiting nearly twelve hours to interview to become a contestant on the Price is Right game show. “Who are these people handing out free cookies,” I thought? Why are they doing it? The woman next to me said they were a group of Christians.

I saw the smiles on their faces and their laughter as they did something purely out of the kindness of their hearts, which seemed rare. I really didn’t understand the joy they had giving out cookies to complete strangers and striking up conversations.

Fast forward a few more years. I would often go to Thursday in the Square, in downtown Buffalo, New York, where there was a lot of drinking going on. Walking in or leaving the area, someone would often hand me a pamphlet I knew was about “religion.” I’d take it and immediately throw it in a garbage can, never bothering to read it. “Freak,” I thought.

Several years later, through a series of events, I received Christ as my Savior. Even after this, those memories would sometimes come back, throwing away the Christian pamphlets, tracts they call them. Now I know why people did those things. It was because they wanted others and me to know Jesus personally as Lord. I felt ashamed for acting and thinking so poorly towards them and Jesus.

A few years after the cookie episode, something similar took place. As I waited in an airport to board a plane, I saw a bunch of people, probably in their twenties, sitting on the floor laughing, joking, and truly enjoying each other’s company. Someone told me they were a Christian group going on a mission trip. I felt a bit envious of them and how elated they seemed, even though the whole idea of going on a mission trip seemed foreign to me.

Those people had something that I didn’t have at the time—joy. Once I trusted in Jesus, I started to own the deeper joy that comes from a relationship with Him. Before knowing Christ alone as my Savior, my mood was often more temperamental, easily affected by the happenings in my life. Not that we can’t have feelings, God gave us those, yet at the same time, I often felt more controlled by my feelings.

Faith differs from feelings, as sometimes our feelings can lead us astray. Making righteous choices— in line with the Bible, requires some discriminating, not just agreeing and believing anything if it “feels right” or based on a majority. If you look at Noah, who built the Ark, everyone else perished except Noah and his family because he obediently followed the Lord. He applied his faith to what God told him to do. Faith requires action and so does love.

I also remember an unpleasant experience concerning chocolate chip cookies. Many years ago, I went out with a guy a few times and decided to surprise him by baking chocolate chip cookies and putting them on his porch. I didn’t even get a phone call from him thanking me. A few days later, I called him to make sure he got the cookies. “Oh yeah, thanks,” he said half-heartedly. Obviously, the relationship didn’t last, but it reminded me that we can’t always expect a positive response even from good intentions.

There’s often a cost involved in doing anything including baking cookies, handing out tracts, or going on a mission trip which includes time, effort, and possibly feeling scared or different. The first time I ever shared the Gospel with someone, it took courage. The person mattered more to me than any possible ridicule or my feeling intimidated. That was years ago, now if someone handed me a Christian tract or tried to talk to me about Jesus—I’d say thanks, you really care about me!

Approximately 150,000 people die every second. Some go to Heaven but the majority to Hell (Matthew 7:13-14). Isn’t it possible, if you know Jesus as your Savior, that you would want to share Christ with those that need Him? “He told them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field,’” Luke 10:2

Jesus proved Himself true by dying on the Cross and being raised again from death to life. He offers forgiveness and everlasting life in Heaven with the Lord, as a gift! Otherwise, we choose to take the judgment of our sin upon ourselves in Hell, separated from Christ for eternity. The very thought of people going there makes me feel absolutely terrible, as there is no turning back. But we each have free will, and God doesn’t violate that.

Chocolate chip cookies were a gift I received years ago at the Price is Right where we ended up in the audience, unfortunately not as contestants. Perhaps we didn’t jump high enough or were animated enough during the fifteen-second interview. God doesn’t want performance though, He freely wants our whole being in relationship with Him, everyone to believe in Him as Savior. Then serving Him and others comes from a desire to love people as He would.

I think about how much the Lord loves us and how we too can share His love with the world. It’s funny how God changes the desires of our hearts when we are transformed by Him. I’ve now gone on seven mission trips to foreign countries, and love sharing the Gospel and handing out tracts wherever I am. Do I still get scared or nervous sometimes? Sure I do, but I try to let Him and His love live through me.

I think about joy too… verses such as “… the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10), and joy of the Lord is my salvation. Joy is one of the fruits of the Spirit, which comes from a mind set on things above. It is a richness that comes from knowing Jesus intimately as the Holy Spirit molds you, changing you into the person He wants you to become. James 1:2-4 tells us, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” It doesn’t mean you’re happy about all circumstances, but you know He is with you and that makes all the difference.

Pam loves to write and inspire others to walk in faith and share the Gospel. She has been a follower of Jesus for over twenty years. She works as a physical therapist, takes care of her sweet ninetytwo-year-old mom, and loves going to the gym. A graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary, Pam has taught many Bible studies, been on mission trips, volunteered in pastoral care, and helps with a ministry to children in Zambia.

Pam’s blog is found at https://joyluke157.wordpress.com/

Pam Walck