BIAY - Practical Devotion
Numbers 28-30, Psalm 36
Welcome to the Bible in a Year for 2025. Intro to this series and resource links available here, plus here’s how I’m approaching this year.
Scriptures for Today:
Reflection:
Mundane rules can still contain nuggets of insight. Here are reflections for the readings today.
Reenactment for remembering (Num 28:16-17) - Among the various instructions on sacrifices we find instructions for a seven-day Passover festival. Of note is the command to prepare bread without yeast. People learn well with object lessons. They reinforce our memories too. Passover was the saving action of God for the people. Returning to it not only to recall it mentally but to reenact it was vital.
Offerings represent trust and devotion (Num 28-29) - Throughout these two chapters, there is a consistent refrain about animals for sacrifice being unblemished and and flour or grain being the “finest.” Why might God be such a stickler for this? It seems to me that giving God their best meant at least two things. First, it signaled the nature of their devotion. Giving God leftovers signals that God is an afterthought or on the back-burner. Giving of the best indicates commitment and devotion. Second, giving God the most valuable of their livestock and crop resources was an act of real faith and trust. To give seconds meant holding back but giving the best required trust in God to provide.
Vows are taken seriously (Num 30) - Reading these commands about vows within their ancient context for how they would function in that era and culture, what strikes me is how important making and honoring vows is to God. These are instructions about how one is or is not to be held responsible for giving their word. Reliable vows are the foundation for trust in relationships. Giving and keeping our word matters for human relationships, and matters to God.
Questions:
How do objects and holiday celebrations help keep God’s work alive in your memory?
How challenging is it to give God the first and best instead of giving leftovers later?
What else might the Holy Spirit be speaking with you about in the text today?
Prayer: How priceless is your unfailing love, O Lord. Keep us trusting in your for refuge and provision. Amen.
“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23)
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