June 6 Daily Devotional

Bible Text:

He shall see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. —Isaiah 53:11

Devotional:

Since, then, our Lord Jesus Christ puts his Word in our hearts, let us pray him that he will be gracious to us, so that we may have a pure and sincere disposition to seek in him all that we lack. This is how we shall be justified by his knowledge. For there is question of bringing some satisfaction which will content God; it is not a question of coming to bargain and saying: "Lord, we deserve to be received by you"; but "We confess that we are poor sinners, that we are liable to thy judgment, that it is impossible for us ourselves to satisfy it, and that only Jesus Christ must be regarded as sufficient to satisfy it."

We shall confess that with all humility; we shall protest that we are creatures lost and damned until our Lord Jesus Christ holds out his hand to us to draw us back from the chasms and depths of hell. Now, have we confessed that? We know also that our Lord Jesus Christ supplies all that we lack.

If we are unclean and full of filth, his blood is our washing, by which we shall be cleansed; if we are plunged in debt, not only to God but also to Satan, as our adversary, the payment has been made in the death and passion of the Son of God; if we are polluted and detestable, the sacrifice that our Lord Jesus offered has a sweet odour, so that all the evil in us is destroyed. This, then, is how we are justified by the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. —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.