Wash your hands … eat the cookies
Anne and I hit the road out of Charleston Saturday, March 14. We needed to be with our daughter in Leesburg, Virginia, for her surgery on Monday, March 16. She is recovering in her home and is doing great.
On our trip, we had several beautiful messages from the Lord. We were, of course, concerned with all the activity, more accurately “low activity in the stores,” concerning the coronavirus. The roads were pretty empty driving up to Virginia. Our first stop for breakfast was at Wendy’s; they have a new breakfast menu. The biscuit was delicious, but the “message” came from the woman at the counter. She was happy, efficient, and eager to help. I said something like, “these are difficult days.” She, with a big smile, said, “I put it all into God’s hands.”
What an uplifting message from a total stranger at a hamburger place.
We continued our trip toward Northern Virginia. As we got close to Leesburg, we decided to stop at a grocery store to pick up a few items to take to our daughter and her two teenage sons. There it was! As we walked into the store, there was a special table with things to fight the coronavirus. The best thing on the table was a giant (12 inches) chocolate chip cookie. The message on the cookie was our second “message from the Lord” on this trip. The cookie baker wrote “WASH YOUR HANDS AND EAT COOKIES” in bold letters of dark chocolate.
We had been hearing the first part of the message all day on the news channels, but, when you add the second part … I knew it was from the Lord.
The “short” version of a future sermon at the French Huguenot Church has two points. Point number one: “Wash your hands.” It is what God requires of us as we enter into his presence. In Bible-talk, “Repent.” Our Loving, Powerful God is Holy and we must repent. The Bible says, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (I John 1: 8-9) The good news is, He does forgive us, and He does cleanse us, and He does welcome us into His presence. This is another reason why we call it “Good Friday.”
Then the cookie says, “AND EAT COOKIES.” This is the wonderful Christian difference. We are richly blessed with the countless promises of God. He promises to be with us; we are never alone. He promises to heal us; He will not let us continue to suffer. He heals us through medicines, through prayer, through His written Word, through the loving call or letter from a friend. It is His power that works through our faith and our trust in the Lord Jesus.
We can be victorious through these different and difficult days. We are people who have “washed our hands.” To be more biblically correct, “have been washed by God through the shed blood of His Son.” We are people who should be claiming the promises of Almighty God. His promises are fabulous.
Eat ‘em up!
Chaplain Charles C. Baldwin (Major General, USAF, retired) is an ordained Southern Baptist minister. He and his wife, Anne, have been married for 49 years and have three children and ten grandchildren. He is serving as an associate pastor at the French Huguenot Church, Charleston, S.C.
