Daily Devotional
August 05
Thine Is My Heart: Devotional Readings from the Writings of John Calvin
by John Calvin (compiled by John H. Kromminga)Republished from the OPC Website
Bible Text:
And they shall know that I am the Lord, and that I have not said in vain that I would do this evil unto them. —Ezekiel 6:10
Devotional:
God therefore says, "They shall then know that I have not spoken in vain, when I bring upon them this evil."
This knowledge, which is produced by real dissatisfaction with self, is very useful. I have said that it is the fruit of repentance, but at the same time it profits the miserable, to humble themselves seriously before God, and to call to memory their own ingratitude; then they perceive what they have never admitted before, that God is trustworthy as well in his threats as in his promises. Hence it happens that they reverently embrace his word which they had formerly despised.
He pronounced the same thing previously concerning the reprobate, who, as we have already said, feel God's hand without producing fruit. But because he now speaks of those very few whose conversion he had previously praised, he doubtless comprehends the fear of God under recognition or perception of him.
For if all God's threats had been buried, the people could not be thought to have returned to the right way, nor could their conversion have any existence before God. That the sinner may submit himself sincerely to God, he ought to consider how he had formerly repudiated or neglected the word of God. —Commentaries
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.
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