Good questions can draw out good answers.
This is a key assumption in the church’s use of catechisms. Through teachers asking the right question and through children and new believers being trained to give a faithful answer, growth occurs.
When we survey the collection of Reformed catechisms, there are a couple whose opening questions have become renowned for their simplicity yet profundity.
One is the Heidelberg Catechism, which opens this way: “What is your only comfort in life and in death?” It is an essential question answered well by the Catechism, not just with the beloved words of Lord’s Day 1, but with every subsequent Lord’s Day, right up to #52. This is our only comfort and it is founded on the redeeming works of the Triune God.
Another acclaimed question that is pregnant with meaning is posed by the Westminster Shorter Catechism (WSC). It too, is the very first question asked: “What is the chief end of man?” Put another way: Why am I here? This good question evokes this beautiful answer,
Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.
You could spend a lifetime meditating on the deep truth of this statement.
To help us study God and his Word through the WSC, three Reformed pastors have written a very fine devotional, Glorifying and Enjoying God.
In this work, William Boekestein, Jonathan Landry Cruse, and Andrew J. Miller explore the teachings of the WSC in a way that is sure to deepen your knowledge of the Triune God, and hopefully also your love for him. The authors have taken the 107 Q&As of the WSC and divided them into 52 short units for weekly devotions across a full year.
Even if your church does not have the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms as their doctrinal standards, any Reformed Christian will feel very much at home in the WSC and in this devotional.
The meditations offer clearly expressed teachings that are rich with Scripture and enhanced with the wisdom of Christian thinkers past and present. The WSC (and this devotional) cover topics such as the doctrine of God, Scripture, mankind, sin, salvation, sanctification, faith, preaching, the sacraments, the Ten Commandments, and the Lord’s Prayer. In keeping with the spirit of the WSC, the meditations also illustrate how the doctrines of God’s Word can powerfully impact our lives as his children and church.
This devotional could be put to multiple uses. You could read it with great profit in family worship, provided that your children are a bit older and have already learned some of the language of the faith through Catechism classes. It would also be beneficial to office bearers seeking to dive deeper into Reformed doctrine, and to pastors who are busy with weekly preaching and teaching.
I’m confident that anyone who reads this devotional will be helped in meeting the chief end of our lives: to glorify and enjoy God forever.
Glorifying and Enjoying God
William Boekestein, Jonathan Landry Cruse, Andrew J. Miller
Reformation Heritage Books, 2023; 229 pages
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