Dear Saints,

     It is amazing how small Luther's Small Catechism is. There are six chief parts, along with the Table of Duties, prayers, and some questions in order to prepare yourself for the Lord's Supper. However greatly I desire to memorize this little book in order to better my meditation, prayer life, and daily living, I struggle with it alot. The two main areas that give me trouble in memorization are the Lord's Prayer and the section on Baptism. The Commandments, Creed, Sacrament, and Absolution come easy, but these other two parts have always been an issue for me. One solution would be not to worry about it, just know that I know the other parts and read the two I don't know when I need to. However, this is the devil;s desire that I be lazy rather than spend time in meditation and prayer as I memorize these parts on prayer and my identity in Jesus. I pray that as the days go on I begin to make these parts of the catechism part of me. 

I would encourage you to think about this today. Are there parts of the catechism that you haven't memorized yet? Why is it beneficial for you to memorize this confession and inwardly digest it? Well, it's beneficial because it gives you the language for your prayers and also helps you in your reading and application of Holy Scripture. Think about this section real quick, the 7th petition of the Lord's Prayer that says, "But deliver us from evil." What does this mean? We pray in this petition, in summary, that our Father in heaven would rescue us from every evil of body and soul, possessions and reputation, and finally, when our last hour comes, give us a blessed end, and graciously take us from this valley of sorrow to Himself in heaven."  This petition guides us through our baptismal life to understand that to be delivered from evil does not mean that God would destroy our enemies, but that He would keep us from falling into temptation and wickedness in preserving us through a holy death. This helps our reading of the Scriptures, our actions toward those who persecute us, and guides how we seek forgiveness of our sins from our Lord, Jesus the Christ. Knowing the words of the catechism isn't beneficial because we get rewarded for our intelligence, but rather is helpful because it encourages us in our baptismal life to rely solely on the grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus the Christ. May you and I continue our study of the catechism, confess our failure to do so, and encourage one another in it's confession that is the reality that we are saved and forgiven by the grace and mercy of Jesus alone.

Peace be with you. May the devil be silenced, the world be hushed, and the Old Adam be drowned anew so that you hear only the peaceful voice of your Savior Jesus who says, "I forgive you. I love you. I claim you as My ow forever," Amen.

Jesus' Sheepdog,

Pastor Hull