From darkness to light (1) - All The Good Seed Daily Devotionals for 2025

Blessed be the LORD God, who only does wondrous things!
Psalm 72:18.

From darkness to light (1)
When I once visited a prisoner under sentence of death in the condemned cell, I wondered at the gleam on his face. He then told me his story:

"Three years ago I was sentenced to death for murder. After the sentence was pronounced I returned to my cell, which became a living hell for me. The thought of approaching death plagued me day and night. I still had a few weeks to live, then certain death, then: eternity!

The more I tried to rid myself of the thought, the more it arose, robbing me of my appetite and my sleep. I decided to make a rope from my sheet to end my life. It was only the thought of eternity that stopped me. Suicide would only remove me into that uncertain beyond all the sooner.

One day I got a gospel tract. I perused it briefly and put it aside. The contents seemed senseless. But I read it again and then walked thoughtfully up and down in my cell. A new feeling overcame me: I sensed some longing in my soul. The words on the leaf were: "The Son of man has come to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10). I was indeed lost! That strange feeling stuck with me, the longing for deliverance from the terrible burden oppressing me. But how could I get free?

I asked for a Bible and started reading it with mixed feelings of fear and hope. But I soon came across the verse in 1 John 1:7: "the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin."

(to be concluded tomorrow)

Today's reading: Genesis 24:50-67 · Psalms 9:1-10