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March 11 Daily Devotional

Thine Is My Heart: Devotional Readings from the Writings of John Calvin

John Calvin (compiled by John H. Kromminga)

Bible Text:

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. —Isaiah 53:6

Devotional:

And now we have to conclude that all those who wander about here and there turn away from our Lord Jesus Christ; for the Prophet declares that there has never been a patriarch or a prophet, or single one of all the holy Fathers and martyrs, who has not had need to be reconciled to God by the death and passion of our Lord Jesus Christ.

If Abraham, the father of believers, if David, the mirror of all righteousness, if others like them, Job and Daniel, who are named as mirrors of all sanctity and perfection, if they, say I, were poor sheep, strayed and lost until they were gathered by our Lord Jesus Christ—alas! how shall it be with us?

So then, when we go to seek them as our mediators and imagine that by their means we shall escape from the perdition we are in, do we not show that we are altogether ungrateful to our Lord Jesus Christ? Do we not show that we have lost our senses when we go to beg from those who also need to have recourse to the death and passion of our Lord Jesus Christ? For if necessity constrains us to seek a remedy, we must go to him in whom believers of all time have found their refuge.

For neither St. Peter, nor St. Paul, nor the Virgin Mary, nor anyone else, is an exception. So then, let us learn to come to the source and fountain and to draw thence what we lack. For our Lord Jesus has enough to satisfy us all; and we need never fear that the fullness of grace which he has in himself will be exhausted; to each one he will give his part and portion when we come to seek it of him. —Sermons


John Calvin was the premier theologian of the Reformation, but also a pious and godly Christian pastor who endeavored throughout his life to point men and women to Christ. We are grateful to Reformation Heritage Books for permission to use John Calvin's Thine Is My Heart as our daily devotional for 2013 on the OPC Web site. You can currently obtain a printed copy of that book from Reformation Heritage Books.

Dr. Joel Beeke, who is editorial director of Reformation Heritage Books, has this to say:

"Calvin shows us the piety of a Reformed theologian who speaks from the heart. Having tasted the goodness and grace of God in Jesus Christ, he pursued piety by seeking to know and do God’s will every day. He communed with Christ, practicing repentance, self-denial, and cross-bearing. Moreover, his theology worked itself out in heart-felt, Christ-honoring piety. The selections of this devotional bear this out, and hopefully will be used by God to direct pious hearts in our own day."

These devotional readings from John Calvin were compiled by John H. Kromminga. Be sure to read his "Introduction" to John Calvin's Thine Is My Heart.

 

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