Calvin's Daily Devotional

Daily Devotional

September 17

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

by John Calvin (compiled by John H. Kromminga)
Reproduced from the OPC Website

Bible Text:
Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? —Isaiah 53: 1

Devotional:
Let us reckon with this fact, that the world will never be so entirely converted to God that there will not be a majority possessed by Satan and remaining stupidly in his power, who would not rather perish than accept the blessing that is offered to us.

And there are different sorts of men:
some will be stupid, others will be so arrogant as to mock God and so madly presumptuous as to condemn everything in the Gospel; others will be wrapped up in the cares of this world, preoccupied with their refinements and delusions so that they have no taste at all for heavenly things; others will be so besotted that one cannot reach their minds so as to give them any teaching. So when we see this, let us reckon with the fact that, although the Gospel is preached and the voice of God resounds and echoes everywhere, many men will stay just as they were, quite unchanged, and all teaching will be, as it were, dead to them.

And thus let us take note that the number of believers is small. But yet we must not be led astray by that. Rather we ought to realize that God is bringing to pass what he declared with his mouth.

And meanwhile we ought to be so much the more careful to gather ourselves, as it were, under the wings of God, seeing that the world today is full of malice and rebellion.... When we see the whole world trampling the Word of God under foot, let us devote ourselves to it.

And not only that, but we must be all the more careful to cleave to our God when we see that scandals and bad examples might succeed in turning us from him; for we must remain in the integrity to which God calls us. —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.