Thimbleful of Glory

“For what is more consonant with faith than to recognize that we are naked of all virtue, in order to be clothed by God? That we are empty of all good, to be filled by him? That we are slaves of sin, to be freed by him? Blind, to be illumined by him? Lame, to be made straight by him? Weak, to be sustained by him? To take away from us all occasion for glorying, that he alone may stand forth gloriously and we glory in him?” (Calvin: Institutes of the Christian Religion by John Calvin, 1960, p13, originally published in Latin in 1536).

How much do you contribute? Are you wearing some amount of clothing and need God to sew some patches? Are you filled with some amount of good and just need to be topped off? Is your vision only blurry, your legs only wobbly, and your strength a little weaker than it should be?

Are you already free without God?

Is God a lifeguard saving you from drowning? Or are you on the bottom of the lake “dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1 NKJV).

No. You were naked, empty, a slave, blind, lame, and weak. You were dead and “you He made alive” (Ephesians 2:1 NKJV).

This is beautiful. In you, there is no occasion for glorying. Your glory is in Him.

How could I let my pride prefer my own thimbleful of glory (do I even have that much)? When I could glory in Him without limit?

What do you think?
Joseph