Daily Devotions · February 25
Reading for February 25
Read the whole Bible in a year, a few chapters a day.
Numbers 17–18 · Psalm 29 · Mark 4
Numbers 17–18 · Psalm 29 · Mark 4, Berean Standard Bible
Numbers 17
And the LORD said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and take from them twelve staffs, one from the leader of each tribe. Write each man’s name on his staff, 3 and write Aaron’s name on the staff of Levi, because there must be one staff for the head of each tribe. 4 Place the staffs in the Tent of Meeting in front of the Testimony, where I meet with you. 5 The staff belonging to the man I choose will sprout, and I will rid Myself of the constant grumbling of the Israelites against you.” 6 So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and each of their leaders gave him a staff—one for each of the leaders of their tribes, twelve staffs in all. And Aaron’s staff was among them. 7 Then Moses placed the staffs before the LORD in the Tent of the Testimony. 8 The next day Moses entered the Tent of the Testimony and saw that Aaron’s staff, representing the house of Levi, had sprouted, put forth buds, blossomed, and produced almonds. 9 Then Moses brought out all the staffs from the LORD’s presence to all the Israelites. They saw them, and each man took his own staff. 10 The LORD said to Moses, “Put Aaron’s staff back in front of the Testimony, to be kept as a sign for the rebellious, so that you may put an end to their grumbling against Me, lest they die.” 11 So Moses did as the LORD had commanded him. 12 Then the Israelites declared to Moses, “Look, we are perishing! We are lost; we are all lost! 13 Anyone who comes near the tabernacle of the LORD will die. Are we all going to perish?”
Numbers 18
So the LORD said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your father’s house must bear the iniquity involving the sanctuary. And you and your sons alone must bear the iniquity involving your priesthood. 2 But bring with you also your brothers from the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, that they may join you and assist you and your sons before the Tent of the Testimony. 3 And they shall attend to your duties and to all the duties of the Tent; but they must not come near to the furnishings of the sanctuary or the altar, or both they and you will die. 4 They are to join you and attend to the duties of the Tent of Meeting, doing all the work at the Tent; but no outsider may come near you. 5 And you shall attend to the duties of the sanctuary and of the altar, so that wrath may not fall on the Israelites again. 6 Behold, I Myself have selected your fellow Levites from the Israelites as a gift to you, dedicated to the LORD to perform the service for the Tent of Meeting. 7 But only you and your sons shall attend to your priesthood for everything concerning the altar and what is inside the veil, and you are to perform that service. I am giving you the work of the priesthood as a gift, but any outsider who comes near the sanctuary must be put to death.” 8 Then the LORD said to Aaron, “Behold, I have put you in charge of My offerings. As for all the sacred offerings of the Israelites, I have given them to you and your sons as a portion and a permanent statute. 9 A portion of the most holy offerings reserved from the fire will be yours. From all the offerings they render to Me as most holy offerings, whether grain offerings or sin offerings or guilt offerings, that part belongs to you and your sons. 10 You are to eat it as a most holy offering, and every male may eat it. You shall regard it as holy. 11 And this is yours as well: the offering of their gifts, along with all the wave offerings of the Israelites. I have given this to you and your sons and daughters as a permanent statute. Every ceremonially clean person in your household may eat it. 12 I give you all the freshest olive oil and all the finest new wine and grain that the Israelites give to the LORD as their firstfruits. 13 The firstfruits of everything in their land that they bring to the LORD will belong to you. Every ceremonially clean person in your household may eat them. 14 Every devoted thing in Israel belongs to you. 15 The firstborn of every womb, whether man or beast, that is offered to the LORD belongs to you. But you must surely redeem every firstborn son and every firstborn male of unclean animals. 16 You are to pay the redemption price for a month-old male according to your valuation: five shekels of silver, according to the sanctuary shekel, which is twenty gerahs. 17 But you must not redeem the firstborn of an ox, a sheep, or a goat; they are holy. You are to splatter their blood on the altar and burn their fat as a food offering, a pleasing aroma to the LORD. 18 And their meat belongs to you, just as the breast and right thigh of the wave offering belong to you. 19 All the holy offerings that the Israelites present to the LORD I give to you and to your sons and daughters as a permanent statute. It is a permanent covenant of salt before the LORD for you and your offspring.” 20 Then the LORD said to Aaron, “You will have no inheritance in their land, nor will you have any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the Israelites. 21 Behold, I have given to the Levites all the tithes in Israel as an inheritance in return for the work they do, the service of the Tent of Meeting. 22 No longer may the Israelites come near to the Tent of Meeting, or they will incur guilt and die. 23 The Levites are to perform the work of the Tent of Meeting, and they must bear their iniquity. This is a permanent statute for the generations to come. The Levites will not receive an inheritance among the Israelites. 24 For I have given to the Levites as their inheritance the tithe that the Israelites present to the LORD as a contribution. That is why I told them that they would not receive an inheritance among the Israelites.” 25 And the LORD instructed Moses, 26 “Speak to the Levites and tell them: ‘When you receive from the Israelites the tithe that I have given you as your inheritance, you must present part of it as an offering to the LORD—a tithe of the tithe. 27 Your offering will be reckoned to you as grain from the threshing floor or juice from the winepress. 28 So you are to present an offering to the LORD from all the tithes you receive from the Israelites, and from these you are to give the LORD’s offering to Aaron the priest. 29 You must present the offering due the LORD from all the best of every gift, the holiest part of it.’ 30 Therefore say to the Levites, ‘When you have presented the best part, it will be reckoned to you as the produce of the threshing floor or winepress. 31 And you and your households may eat the rest of it anywhere; it is the compensation for your work at the Tent of Meeting. 32 Once you have presented the best part of it, you will not incur guilt because of it. But you must not defile the sacred offerings of the Israelites, or else you will die.’”
Psalm 29
A Psalm of David. Ascribe to the LORD, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. 2 Ascribe to the LORD the glory due His name; worship the LORD in the splendor of His holiness. 3 The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders; the LORD is heard over many waters. 4 The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is majestic. 5 The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars; the LORD shatters the cedars of Lebanon. 6 He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, and Sirion like a young wild ox. 7 The voice of the LORD strikes with flames of fire. 8 The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness; the LORD shakes the Wilderness of Kadesh. 9 The voice of the LORD twists the oaks and strips the forests bare. And in His temple all cry, “Glory!” 10 The LORD sits enthroned over the flood; the LORD is enthroned as King forever. 11 The LORD gives His people strength; the LORD blesses His people with peace.
Mark 4
Once again Jesus began to teach beside the sea, and such a large crowd gathered around Him that He got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people crowded along the shore. 2 And He taught them many things in parables, and in His teaching He said, 3 “Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 And as he was sowing, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. 5 Some fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun rose, the seedlings were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the seedlings, and they yielded no crop. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it sprouted, grew up, and produced a crop—one bearing thirtyfold, another sixtyfold, and another a hundredfold.” 9 Then Jesus said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” 10 As soon as Jesus was alone with the Twelve and those around Him, they asked Him about the parable. 11 He replied, “The mystery of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to those on the outside everything is expressed in parables, 12 so that, ‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven.’” 13 Then Jesus said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand any of the parables? 14 The farmer sows the word. 15 Some are like the seeds along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. 16 Some are like the seeds sown on rocky ground. They hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 17 But they themselves have no root, and they remain for only a season. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 18 Others are like the seeds sown among the thorns. They hear the word, 19 but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 20 Still others are like the seeds sown on good soil. They hear the word, receive it, and produce a crop—thirtyfold, sixtyfold, or a hundredfold.” 21 Jesus also said to them, “Does anyone bring in a lamp to put it under a basket or under a bed? Doesn’t he set it on a stand? 22 For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be brought to light. 23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” 24 He went on to say, “Pay attention to what you hear. With the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and even more will be added to you. 25 For whoever has will be given more. But whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.” 26 Jesus also said, “The kingdom of God is like a man who scatters seed on the ground. 27 Night and day he sleeps and wakes, and the seed sprouts and grows, though he knows not how. 28 All by itself the earth produces a crop—first the stalk, then the head, then grain that ripens within. 29 And as soon as the grain is ripe, he swings the sickle, because the harvest has come.” 30 Then He asked, “To what can we compare the kingdom of God? With what parable shall we present it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds sown upon the earth. 32 But after it is planted, it grows to be the largest of all garden plants and puts forth great branches, so that the birds of the air nest in its shade.” 33 With many such parables Jesus spoke the word to them, to the extent that they could understand. 34 He did not tell them anything without using a parable. But privately He explained everything to His own disciples. 35 When that evening came, He said to His disciples, “Let us cross to the other side.” 36 After they had dismissed the crowd, they took Jesus with them, since He was already in the boat. And there were other boats with Him. 37 Soon a violent windstorm came up, and the waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was being swamped. 38 But Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on the cushion. So they woke Him and said, “Teacher, don’t You care that we are perishing?” 39 Then Jesus got up and rebuked the wind and the sea. “Silence!” He commanded. “Be still!” And the wind died down, and it was perfectly calm. 40 “Why are you so afraid?” He asked. “Do you still have no faith?” 41 Overwhelmed with fear, they asked one another, “Who is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”
Scripture from the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), dedicated to the public domain.
How to SOAP
Grab a journal and a pen. Read the chapters above and watch for the verse that stops you. Then take it through four steps.
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Scripture
Write out the verse that stood out to you.
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Observation
What is it saying? Who is speaking, and to whom?
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Application
What does it mean for your life today? Be specific.
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Prayer
Talk to God about it. Ask Him to help you live it.
Your SOAP journal
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Why daily devotions?
Devotions are time set aside each day to read God's Word and let Him speak. The point isn't checking off chapters. It's meeting with Him.
Ten or fifteen minutes is enough to start. Pick a time and a place and keep the appointment. Mornings work well for a lot of us, before the phone and the day start talking.
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