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January 2 Daily Devotional

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

John Calvin (compiled by John H. Kromminga)

Bible Text:

Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. —II Timothy 2:3

Devotional:

We have two points to consider. The one is, seeing the Son of God has called us to be his soldiers, we must at least do him as much honor as the soldiers of the world do to their captains. How shall we do this? We must be free from all hindrances, we must not be entangled in things that might hold us back, but we must walk boldly and do our duty, seeing we are no more our own men.

But especially and before all things we must expect that which we have heard of; namely, that our condition is such that we must fight, seeing we are called to be the Rock of Christ. And again, let us know this, that our warfare is not to fight either against flesh or blood, but against powers of the air, against all lusts of the flesh, and against all temptations of the world. And therefore we must be in readiness to do it.

And again, because we have to suffer many afflictions, we must also be ready to bear them. And let us know especially that our issue is certain and cannot deceive us; we do not fight in a lost cause. We are not as they that take great pains and disquiet themselves to get a crown of leaves, and are often deceived. For many, he says, run in a race, and there is but one that is crowned. He that gets the prize deprives all the others. But for our part, we have a far better condition; for we are so far from hindering one another and depriving each other of the prize and crown which is promised us, that we help one another. —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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