Thursday, August 25: Deuteronomy 16- Celebrate.

Devotionally I was attracted to the word ‘celebrate’ in verses 10 and 13. Celebrate the festival of…

It struck me that celebration is the appropriate posture of praise and worship.

Earlier this year we celebrated the wedding of my daughter. There was laughter and conversation and smiles and lots of enjoyment. But there were also moments of reverent wonder and sharing of vows and even a few tears. It was a wonderful celebration.

Six weeks before the wedding the family celebrated the life, death and resurrection of my mother-in-law. While the tone of the service was more somber, due to the occasion obviously, many of the same relational qualities were found at the event and the after events… laughter, conversation, smiles, tears, reverent wonder.

The doses of each were different for these two events but there was a similar underlying goodness and, yes, even joy for both events. One celebrating the new life of a marriage, the other celebrating the ultimate homecoming for a child of God.

Moses invites the people of Israel to celebrate the Lord at the festivals of Israel. And I thought, “Yeah, we get to celebrate weekly the resurrection of Jesus and all that means for a child of God. And we get to celebrate periodically the great events of salvation, birth, death, resurrection of Jesus and giving of the Holy Spirit throughout the year.” And it is healthy if these weekly and periodic celebrations include laughter, conversation, smiles, tears, reverent wonder… the enjoyment of our God in appropriate doses.

Think about this… I am.

Lord, show me how to celebrate You today, a Thursday, and to celebrate You with my church family on Sunday. I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.