Happy New Year!

If you're not in the habit of daily Bible reading, prayer, and study, may I recommend beginning your year with this worthwhile practice? I try to begin my days with at least one chapter of scripture, a time of prayer, and some study from a trusted catechism (the Heidelberg is my favorite, followed by the Westminster Larger and Shorter Catechisms and then, for convenience, the New City Catechism). I've committed to surveying the Heidelberg Catechism in 2024.

This is the first question and answer of Heidelberg Catechism. What a profound question and beautiful answer to start the New Year. Happy New Year indeed! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. 

Q. What is your only comfort in life and death?

A. That I am not my own, but belong with body and soul, both in life and in death, to my faithful Savior 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.

Supporting Scriptures

1 Corinthians 6:19, 20
Romans 14:7-9
1 Corinthians 3:23; Titus 2:14
1 Peter 1:18, 19; 1 John 1:7; 2:2
John 8:34-36; Hebrews 2:14, 15; 1 John 3:8
John 6:39, 40; 10:27-30; 2 Thessalonians 3:3; 1 Peter 1:5
Matthew 10:29-31; Luke 21:16-18
Romans 8:28
Romans 8:15, 16; 2 Corinthians 1:21, 22; 5:5; Ephesians 1:13, 14
Romans 8:14