Lord's Day 1
Lord’s Day 1 Lord’s Day 1: the very beginning of the Catechism is all about comfort. You were not happy. Your favorite baseball bat broke. Or you jumped in the pool on a hot summer day with your watch. After that your watch did not work anymore. So you went to your parents to tell them about it. Your dad said:”Your birthday is coming up. We can give you a new bat on your birthday’ Or your mother said about the drowned watch:”Too bad about that watch. But don’t you worry, there are more watches. We’ll find you another watch. But next time be more careful,’ You are no longer unhappy, because your parents comforted you. You are happy again and you give them a hug. The very beginning of the Catechism is all about comfort. But not for something your parents can do, like when things get broken. It is a comfort you will always need, so long as you live. With this comfort, even dying is no longer as bad as it seems. Your parents, your teacher or the minister cannot give you this comfort. But they can explain it to you. You know why? They know about this comfort, because they need it themselves. God’s enemy, the devil, wants to be the boss of our hearts. And he often succeeds in drawing us away from God. He likes it when we listen to him, rather than listening to God. He likes it when we are disobedient to God, and sin against Him. When we commit sins, we cannot shrug it off by saying: Too bad. When we commit sins, we do feel unhappy. A new baseball bat or a new watch will not take away that feeling of unhappiness. But there is a comfort which is al most too good to be true. Jesus Christ has suffered the punishment we deserve. That is why He hung on the cross. He did that to take away your sins. That is an incredible present! You hardly dare to believe it. But it is true, for the Bible tells us so. Because Jesus Christ paid for your sins, you may belong to Him. You belong to Jesus Christ. If you got an animal on your birthday, a puppy or a guinea pig, you can say: It belongs to me – completely. You can say about yourself: I belong to Jesus Christ¬ completely. Whatever happens to me, he will take care of me. He cares for me much more than I would ever care for an animal. He will never forget me. That makes you happy. And you want to show your thankfulness to Christ and to other people. It is true, at times our thankfulness does not show, even when we pray about it. But it also happens that our thankfulness shows in what we do, through his Holy Spirit.