The LORD said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites: On the fifteenth day of the seventh month the LORD’s Festival of Tabernacles begins, and it lasts for seven days. The first day is a sacred assembly; do no regular work.” Leviticus 23:34-35
Celebrations is something that people do all over the world. There are hundreds, even thousands of different reasons to celebrate. These can be from someone’s birthday all the way up to world events being celebrated.
As a celebration is going on, people are excited and happy. They rejoice over something that had happened in the past as they remember what occurred, the reason for the celebration. Their focus is on the previous event. For many different types of celebrations there is a day of no work, it gives rest from the work day and allows a person to focus on the celebration.
While the Israelites were in the wilderness, God set up a regular, annual celebration to be done. It was called the Festival of Tabernacles. This celebration was to remember that they had traveled around the wilderness for forty years in tents. At the end of that time, God brought them out of the tents and gave them their own towns and homes. During this celebration, no work was to be done, the entire focus was upon celebrating what God has done.
Today Israelites still celebrate that festival, only it is now called Sukkot.
Although Christian believers do not celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles, they can celebrate where God has taken them from. Every believer lived in captivity of Egypt at some point in their life. As they were removed from Egypt, they may have gone through a wilderness for a time. Today they can celebrate what God has brought them through.
Every believer needs to stop working and remember what God has done in his life. They are to give God praise and celebrate God’s great work in their lives.
Take a moment to remember where God has brought you from. Think about what God has brought you through. Think about how God has provided for you.
Now take time to celebrate these things. If you can remember the day or even the month these things occurred, set those days aside to celebrate and remember as you give God thanks.
Do not let these events just become some event that happened in the past with no purpose. Celebrate God’s work!
I pray today that you will see what God has done in your life; that you will give God praise for what He has done for you; that you will praise God for His provision over the years of your life; and that you will regularly celebrate God’s work in your life.
Amen!