Saturday, November 24, 2007
I believe in God the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
(First Article of the Apostles' Creed)
CONCLUDING THANKSGIVING THOUGHTS:
From Luther's Large Catechism
This article, if we really believed it, would humble and terrify us. For we sin daily with our eyes, ears, hands, body and soul, money and property, and everything that we have. Those especially are guilty of doing this who still oppose the Word of God. Christians, however, have the advantage of at least recognizing their obligation to serve and obey God in response to all His kindness.
We should therefore daily work at this article and impress it on ourselves. We should remind ourselves of it by means of everything good we see or experience. And every time we escape from distress or danger, we should realize that this is a gift and act of God. He does all this for us so that we may look into His fatherly heart and sense how boundlessly He loves us. That would warm our hearts, setting them aglow with thankfulness toward God and with the will to use all these good things to His praise and glory.
Such, very briefly, is the sense of this article. It is as much as ordinary people at first need to learn concerning what we have received from God and what we owe Him in return. It offers splendid insight, but more than that, a precious treasure. In it we see how the Father has given Himself to us together with everything of His making and how He most richly provides for us in this life, quite apart from all the other inexpressible eternal blessings showered on us through His Son and His Holy Spirit.
