The Only Comfort

The Heidelberg Catechism (or the 1680 Orthodox, if you are a Baptist) starts things off by asking, " What is your only comfort in life and in death?" I think all of us could easily answer the first part and maybe list more than a few things in this life that give us strength, hope, and consolation. Maybe it's a parent, or a sibling, or trusted friend who can help bear life's burdens. Maybe your job gives you strength and hope to keep pressing on, day after day. President Ulysses S Grant was diagnosed with throat cancer and didn't have much in the way to leave to his wife. He spent his final days writing his biography. There were days when the pain was almost unbearable and he hardly had the strength, but he pressed on, determined to finish the work because he wanted the book to be a source of income for his wife after he died. She was his comfort in life, and knowing he'd leave enough to sustain her was a comfort in the last days of his life.

But what about the second part? If we make a list of our comforts in this life, what would carry over to be our comfort in death? Your work may give you comfort now, but you can't take your job to the afterlife. Your friend may be a consolation to you now, but want about the second after you leave this world? What hope does your family provide you in your death?

What can comfort you both in life and in death? What can provide hope and assurance to me now, and when I die as a sure ground for hope and consolation? I believe the catechism is true when it says there is only one comfort that can help in life and death. "That I am not my own, but belong with body and soul, both in life and in death, to my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free from all the power of the devil. He also preserves me in such a way that without the will of my heavenly Father not a hair can fall from my head; indeed, all things must work together for my salvation. Therefore, by his Holy Spirit he also assures me of eternal life and makes me heartily willing and ready from now on to live for him."

I belong to Jesus and I am his purchased possession. He saved me from my sins and delivered me from Hell, and gave me his righteousness. I'm loved by my Father in Heaven, who chose me before the foundation of the world in love, and preserves me, keeps me, and protects me in this world and the world to come. I'm indwelt by the Comforter, my friend who seals me, guides me, and blesses me with assurance and fills me with the fruit of grace.