A long time ago a colporteur... - All The Good Seed Daily Devotionals for 2026

So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
Isaiah 55:11

A long time ago a colporteur was selling Bibles in a small town in France. Not that the people there were particularly interested or kindly disposed - on the contrary. They lit a fire on the central square and threw the books in it. They had bought the Bibles solely for this purpose.

That evening a strong wind was blowing. It whirled a half burnt page over the roofs that eventually drifted into an open window, landing at the feet of a young woman named Florence. She picked the leaf up and read: "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved." It continued: "He who believes in him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God" (John 3, 17.18).

Florence put the page aside to show it to her husband Peter, who was averse to religious matters. If only she could get a copy of the book that leaf came from!

A year later the same colporteur was at their house to offer them a Bible. They rejected it, but inquired instead about the book from which the half burn page came. A glance at the leaf sufficed for the man to open his Bible at the gospel of John. Astonished, Peter and Florence bought the Bible and read in it. There they found eternal salvation through faith in the Son of God.