The First Article.
For His Goodness And Mercy I Will Thank And Praise My Father, And Serve
And Obey Him.
Which is the First Article?
_I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth._
What does this mean?
_I believe that for all this it is my duty to thank and praise, to serve
and obey Him. This is most certainly true._
1. Great are the blessings which we daily receive from our heavenly
Father. It is He who preserves our bodies and souls. It is He who
provides us with all that we need for our lives, and who defends us
against all danger and guards and protects us from all evil. And He does
all this without any merit or worthiness in me, moved purely by His
fatherly, divine goodness and mercy. When we consider all this love
and kindness, we ask, _What, then, is our duty toward our Father in
heaven? "What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits toward
me?"_ Ps. 116,12. Our Catechism answers: _"For all which it is my duty
to thank and praise, to serve and obey Him."_
2. For all His benefits we should, and, most certainly, every child of
God gladly will, _thank_ our Father. When somebody has shown us a
kindness and given us valuable gifts, we certainly thank him. How we do
look down with contempt upon an ungrateful person! If we give thanks to
our human benefactors, how much more should we thank God, our greatest
Benefactor, from whom we receive every good and perfect gift! It is
_God's will_ that we thank Him. _"O give thanks unto the Lord; for He is
good, because His mercy endureth forever."_ Ps. 118,1. Remember how well
pleased our Lord was with the _grateful Samaritan_ who alone of the ten
came back to thank Him for the gift of his health. Luke 17, 17-19. To be
able to thank God we must _believe in our hearts_ that everything that
we are, have and enjoy is God's gracious gift. Yet many do not admit
this. They boast that they themselves provide for their life by their
daily work, that they themselves defend their bodies and souls from
danger and evil, and so they do not consider it their duty to thank the
Lord. We are assured that all we have is a free gift of God, and
therefore we must and will thank Him in all our prayers. Do not forget
to do this, especially in your morning and evening prayers, as well as
before and after meals. (See the prayers in your Catechism.)
3. _We should praise God, our Father._ With glad and rejoicing hearts we
will _tell_ others, our fellow-men, of the great and wondrous things the
Lord has done for us. We will _make know_ to them what a mighty and wise
as well as gracious, merciful, and loving Father our God is, and thus
_glorify_ His name in the world, also in the presence of _unbelievers.
"Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits!"_ Ps.
103,2. "To God, the Father of all love, the God of earth and heaven, the
mighty God who reigns above, be praise and glory given! With healing
balm my soul He fills and every pain and sorrow stills: To God all
praise and glory!"
4. _It is our duty to serve the Lord._ God, it is true, is not in need
of our poor services, for it is He who gives us day by day everything we
have. But He has told us in His Word that what we do to our brethren for
His sake _we have done unto Him._ Matt. 25,40. _In serving our brethren
we serve God._ We serve Him by not using the gifts we receive from Him
merely for our own benefit, much less for sinful purposes, in the
service of sin and Satan, but _by using them to help our neighbor in
distress._ We serve Him by using our worldly goods _to further our
Father's kingdom here on earth, by laboring and giving for His Church,
for Foreign and Home Missions, and for all purposes pleasing to God._ In
this manner our whole life will be a service and a thank-offering to
God, our gracious Father. "O grant that I may through Thy grace use all
my powers to show Thy praise, and serve and help my neighbor."
5. _Finally, it is my duty to obey Him, my Father._ I know that God is
my Father, and I am His child. How can a child show his love and his
gratitude toward his father better _than by obeying him?_ So will I
render my thanks unto my heavenly Father by cheerfully and willingly
obeying Him and by doing according to His commandments. Above all, I
will, according to His First Commandment, _love Him and trust in Him,_
my Father, in every need and danger, firmly believing that He will never
leave nor forsake me.
6. _"This is most certainly true."_ With these words we conclude our
First Article. These words are the explanation of the word _Amen_ which
we find at the end of our Creed. _Amen_ means: "This is most certainly
true." We declare it to be most certainly true what we have confessed
and what we believe. It is most certainly true that God has made me
and still preserves me. It is most certainly true that God has given me
my body and soul, that He provides for me and defends, guards, and
protects me. It is most certainly true that He has done all this purely
out of His fatherly, divine goodness and mercy. It is most certainly
true that God is my almighty Father whom I, His child, am in duty bound
to thank and praise, to serve and obey. _From God's Word we know that
all this is most certainly true._