Following the Master’s example - All The Good Seed Daily Devotionals for 2026

Assuredly, I say to you, Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.
Matthew 25:40

Following the Master's example
Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), the President of the United States, often watched school children playing behind the grounds of the White House. One day he noticed several boys making fun of another because he was poorly dressed.

The president, touched by the fact that that unfortunate lad was being made to suffer, learned that, at the age of nine, he had lost his father, killed in action in the war, and that his mother had to raise the family by doing washing.

The following week the boy arrived at school in new clothing. He proudly told his class that the President had visited him and taken the whole family to buy new clothes, besides having necessary provision and a huge pile of coal delivered. To crown it all, he took a letter from his pocket signed by the President expressly for the class worded as follows: "Please write this verse from the Bible on the blackboard: "Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of my brethren, you did it to me" (Matthew 25:40).

Later the President visited the school. He spoke to the pupils about what he had observed in the playground and explained the sense of the verse that was still written on the blackboard. Affected by the message from the Bible, the children changed their attitude.

The President could have simply taught them a lesson. But he chose rather to apply the Word of God, then to explain it, knowing its power to convict and convince hearts.

Today's reading: Jeremiah 18:1-23 · Luke 23:39-46