Books instead of a coat - All The Good Seed Daily Devotionals for 2026

It is more blessed to give than to receive.

Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.
Acts 20:35; Matthew 5:42

Books instead of a coat
Our grandmother’s coat had become too unfashionable and we talked her into buying a new one. One day she went out shopping, and we thought she would come back with a new coat. But soon we realised that the purchase had been postponed for another year. Instead the money had gone to the poor widow B., whose stove was even more clearly antiquated than our grandmother’s coat. The widow and her child sat in thick smoke all day or they froze when they opened the windows to let it out. The new stove was a real blessing and the widow happily told everyone how much coal she was saving.

The next year we tried again. “Yes, children, you are right. Tomorrow I’ll definitely look at coats,” said the grandmother, carefully putting the money intended for it in her pocket. Then she said to the daughter who was to accompany her, “You know I would like to go with you, but I would rather buy a coat next year. Just read this letter! Dear Brother B. out in the poor suburbs would like to have some good books for the children’s lessons. How much of a blessing that would be, and for how many! The coat would only help only one person and is not even urgently needed. Can you believe that exactly the amount I had designated for the coat he mentions as sufficient? Isn’t that extraordinary? I have to send it to him.”

So the coat grew older and older, and our grandmother’s face grew happier and happier when she looked at it. “How much thanks I owe to the Lord,” she said, “that through the coat He has given me many a happy hour and caused me to have the precious experience that it is more blessed to give than to receive.”

Today’s reading: Zephaniah 3:1-20 · Mark 11:1-11