Marcel was a former mercenary; he had been a... - All The Good Seed Daily Devotionals for 2026

The LORD has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities.
Psalm 103: 8.10.

Marcel was a former mercenary; he had been a non-commissioned officer in the French foreign legion. Now he was spending the last years of his life in a home for senior citizens in Paris. Several things reminded him of his turbulent past as he lay there in his small room.

He had been bitterly hostile towards any form of religion; yet now he accepted visits from a preacher, presumably to pass the time away: The latter always spoke to him of the love of God; who had sent His Son to earth for the salvation of mankind.

On one occasion Marcel interrupted his visitor: "Listen!" he said, "I must admit that all that you are telling sounds wonderful, but it doesn't apply to me. There is something that you do not know about: I have blood on my hands."

The preacher was silent for a moment. Then he opened his Bible and read the following verses:

"One of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed him, saying, If you are the Christ, save yourself and us. But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong. Jesus said to him, .

The elderly legionnaire exclaimed in astonishment: "Is that possible? Then Paradise is also for me!" And Marcel put his affairs right with God, followed the call of the Lord Jesus and was overjoyed in the certainty that Christ would one day fetch him to be with Him in Paradise.

Today‘s reading: Deuteronomy 24: 1 - 22 · Galatians 2: 11 - 21