It is important to set apart time to celebrate the goodness
and the greatness of the Lord. The
festivals established here do just that.
The Sabbath is an appreciation of these attributes of God in
creation. He created us on the final day
of His creative activity and then invited us to take our first day off from
labor. Each week we should take a
Sabbath of rest to enjoy His provision of all that we enjoy and that the fruits
of our labors are sufficient to allow us this day of rest. The Passover is to celebrate the deliverance
of the nation from bondage in Egypt by God’s mighty arm in keeping with the
covenant He established with Abraham.
The Feast of firstfruits celebrates that not only did He deliver them
from Egypt but He gave them the land that had belonged to various other nations
and the remembrance that many of the critical battles to take the land,
beginning with the conquest of Jericho, were obviously not by might but by the
Lord acting on their behalf in miraculous ways.
That they enjoy the produce of this land, their Land, is due to Him
alone. The Feast of Weeks celebrates the
end of the harvest, a time of truly rejoicing in the Lord’s provision of a
fertile and productive land, again due to the rains and the other conditions
necessary to produce abundant crops. It
became also a celebration of the giving of the Law at Sinai, the graciousness
of the covenant relationship between them.
Jesus says that the Father is good and so therefore gives
only good gifts. Sometimes that is
difficult to see when we are going through tough times, the discipline of
difficulty. We are, however in a
covenant relationship with Him and we are children if we believe in His Son,
and fathers do have need to discipline their children to get them to grow up
the way they should. We are not to be
spoiled children or arrogant and judgmental children. We are to walk humbly before God and man,
recognizing our need of Him and the reality that we are not without sin. Loving God and loving one another requires
humility, Jesus calls us to a life of service.
Life, all of life, should be a celebration of His greatness and goodness
to us and that alone will keep us from pride and arrogance. Without Him we are lost and hopeless, He
alone is responsible for all we have and all we are.
The antidote to deception is truth and standing in that
truth no matter what the cost. Paul
warns the community about the end of days by talking about the man of
lawlessness and the deception and rebellion that will bring. As believers, those who are called and chosen
by God, we know that we can stand firm “through sanctification
by the Spirit and belief in the truth.”
Part of, and perhaps, the most important part of standing in the truth
is worship, giving thanks for our own salvation and election. So long as we realize always that we didn’t
save ourselves and in that knowledge we give thanks always we will be able to
stand in that truth against the deceiver(s).
In all things and at all times we need to worship the greatness and
goodness of God.
This is the day the Lord hath made
that all may see his love displayed,
may feel his resurrection's power
and rise again to fall no more,
in perfect righteousness renewed
and filled with all the life of God.
that all may see his love displayed,
may feel his resurrection's power
and rise again to fall no more,
in perfect righteousness renewed
and filled with all the life of God.
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