Celebrate!

Exodus 34: 23-24

Three times a year all your men are to appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel. For I will drive out nations before you and enlarge your borders, and no man shall covet your land when you go up three times a year to appear before the Lord your God.

These three times are for the three feasts that were to be celebrated in Jerusalem for a week each. So God invited them to His party three times a year.

Our God is a party God. He gave us a seven-day week so that we would take a day off each week and not wear ourselves out. And He had His people observe six specific "feasts" to lay out His program for us all, and half of these had all the people come to God's house for His week-long party.

When Jesus walked this Earth, He showed us what God is like; and He liked to go to parties. And some of His parables used parties as an example of God's ways. 

We take vacations, which are like a week-long party to get away from the daily grind. God had His people take three vacations a year, coming to Jerusalem to celebrate with food and joyfulness. 

God loves us so much, He doesn't want us to wear ourselves out with the hard labor of providing sustenance for our families. Even during planting and during harvest, the busiest times of the agrarian year, they were to take that day off each week to honor God and get the rest they needed to tackle their work again the next week. And they were also to let the land rest every seven years, so it would continue to produce the abundance of crops and not be depleted.

If only we would listen to God and take Him seriously and practically in our daily lives, things would go so much better for us in this World; we would have everything we need, and we would get along with one another so much better; because that's how He designed it all to work. 

But we listen instead to our enemy who wants to destroy us, who tells us we're smart, we know better and can make our own decisions, we don't want anyone to tell us what to do. And our pride swells up in our hearts, and we make our own decisions, not considering the long-range consequences. Then we wonder why we just can't seem to get a break.

So turn around, humble yourself before your Creator, listen to what He says to you, even if it doesn't seem to make "sense." Do what He has told you to do, His way, in His time, and you will see the goodness of the Lord for you. His ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are so far above our thoughts! He wants only the best for us, and even sacrificed His most Precious for us.

Life is not a party. So let's find reasons to celebrate. Let's discover joy in the every day. Let's make time to get together and enjoy one another. It won't plan itself, we must intentionally look for ways to get together for at least a meal from time to time. Pay attention to what's going on, and focus on what's good and positive instead of criticizing what's not. Let's find time to have a party, and invite God into our celebrations, to rejoice in Him together.

Even so, come Lord Jesus!