That I belong

That I belong, body and soul, in life and in death, not to myself but to my faithful savior Jesus Christ; who at the cost of his own blood has fully paid for all my sins and has completely freed me from the dominion of the devil; that he protects me so well that without the will of my Father in heaven not a hair can fall from my head; indeed, that everything must fit His purpose for my salvation. Therefore by His Holy Spirit, he also assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.

This is the answer to the first question of the Heidelberg Catechism; “What is your only comfort in life and in death?”

My dear brother,

These past few weeks I’ve recited this answer over and over in my thoughts. It has been in an endeavor to memorize these truths. In doing so each of the phrases has taken on such great meaning to me that I have been walking in the blessing of their truth.

I thought I would use these letters to you to share some of my thoughts and in doing so I pray you too will be blessed.

The first three words “That I belong” have been of a great comfort to me as I sit and often wonder at the deep beauty of its truth.  I can’t begin to tell you the number of times my brother that I have walked this life believing and feeling as I am a complete misfit and alien to this world.  To say that “I don’t belong” would be too simple a statement. It wasn’t that was trespassing or that I tried to be something I wasn’t.  It was more like no matter what I engaged in or endeavored to do I could never identify with that end.

Yet these three words declare a truth that transcends my own world. “That I belong” tell me that there is meaning and identity. I am no longer an alien no longer a stranger. This truth means I have an identity in that to which I belong. In some ways it is like my automobile. I can describe its make, model and color but when the authorities want to “identify” the auto they seek its owner. They would find that the 2002 black Toyota “belongs” to Charles. In the same way when I read “I belong” and see to whom I belong I find my identity. I belong to Christ. What glory in those words, what peace is given my heart, how my heart loses its longing and finds rest! “I belong”, no words are sweeter to my eyes, my ears, my heart, my very soul!

Brother, I rejoice that you too can speak the words “That I belong”. I pray that as you find time in your day to ponder this wonderful truth you too will be blessed.

Belonging to Him,
Charles