They used to call me Big Bill. I was... - All The Good Seed Daily Devotionals for 2026

This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
John 17:3

They used to call me Big Bill. I was a tall, strong lumberjack who habitually drank and swore. Decent people avoided me. But that didn't trouble me: I didn't care what other people thought. I feared no-one, neither man nor God.

One day, when I once again had nothing to do and was waiting for someone to invite me for a drink, a boy came running up to me and called out: "Big Bill, have you heard the latest? The settlers have fetched a preacher here. He's going to speak in the school tonight. I think you ought to go." That woke me up, and I exclaimed: "Don't be daft! We've never had any time for religion here, and so long as my name is Big Bill, things will stay that way." That evening the school hall was full of people. Many came to hear the Word of God, others just to discover how Big Bill would deal with the preacher.

When I reached the entrance, the preacher was reading the text: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). I heard those words and couldn't go a step further. The preacher re-read the text, then did so for the third time.

I don't how I got to the seat next to the door. I had never heard such words in my life. I sat and listened. And then I came to know the One who "loved me and gave himself for me" (Galatians 2:20).. And Big Bill became very small and was converted.

Today's reading: Leviticus 3:1-17 · Psalm 49:1-11