OUR DAILY BREAD DEVOTIONAL READING MARCH 31, 2025 ODB MESSAGE
Our Daily Bread Devotional Reading March 31, 2025 TOPIC: Just Right for Jesus
BIBLE IN YEAR: Judges 9-10; Luke 5:17-39
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KEY VERSE: Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. – 1 Timothy 1:15
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
1 Timothy 1:12-17
INSIGHT FOR TODAY
The apostle Paul (Saul) was there at the very beginning of the church in Jerusalem (Acts 8:1-4), but at the time, he held no love or loyalty for Jesus and His people. Instead, he approved of the murder of Stephen, a leader in the new church (6:1-6; 7:57–8:1) and then actively hunted down believers in Christ in Jerusalem and “put them in prison” (8:3). He requested letters to travel around the area with the full intention of murdering any believer he could get his hands on or—at the very least—imprisoning them (9:1-2).
It’s that very violence—something Paul thought he was doing in the name of God—that the apostle said made him the “worst of sinners” (1 Timothy 1:16). Jesus took a violent, angry man and turned him into someone who would lay down his own life for the salvation of the very people he once sought to murder (Romans 9:3).
Our Daily Bread Devotional Reading March 31, 2025 – ODB MESSAGE
Eric’s childhood challenges included a severe skin rash, difficulties in school, and getting high on alcohol or drugs daily from a very early age. Yet the one who dubbed himself as the “king of bad” found that he excelled on the baseball field—until he abandoned baseball after becoming discouraged by discrimination. This allowed him even more time for using and dealing drugs.
Things changed for Eric, however, when he had a life-altering encounter with Jesus while attending a church service. At his job the next day, a dedicated believer in Jesus invited Eric to attend yet another church service, where he heard these words that encouraged him in his newfound faith: “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17 kjv). Eric’s life has never been the same.
Like Eric, Saul of Tarsus (also known as Paul) would’ve been classified as a “tough case.” He said, “I am the worst” of sinners (1 Timothy 1:15). He was “once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man” (v. 13). Like Saul, Eric was just right for Jesus. And so are we, even if we don’t view ourselves in the same league as Saul or Eric, for “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). We’re all just right for Jesus.
REFLECT: How do Eric and Saul’s stories help you to see God as a forgiving God? What does it mean for you to be just right for Jesus?
PRAY: Dear God in heaven, please help me to see that the blood of Jesus cleanses from “big” and “little” sins.
Our Daily Bread Ministries (ODB) is a Christian organization founded by Dr. Martin De Haan in 1938. It is based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with over 600 employees. It produces several devotional publications, including Our Daily Bread. our daily bread devotional for today audio our daily bread booklet. (Our Daily Bread 31st March 2025 Devotional)
