Time for Celebration

God is a God of celebration.  He desires for us to celebrate and praise Him throughout the year.  For the Israelites, celebrations were such an integral part of their religious year.  They were commanded to hold certain feasts and festivals throughout the year in commemoration of the Lord's provision (Num. 28-29).  Feasts of celebration were an important part of God's revelation to the Israelites and still matter to Christians today, although the feast themselves has changed.

For modern-day Christians, the Lord revealed Himself in His Son, Jesus.  All of Christians' holidays are based on the life and work of Christ.  The two most notable and widely celebrated are Christmas and Easter; Christmas being the holiday of Jesus' birth, and Easter commemorating His death and resurrection.  Each of these two are the culminations of seasons of smaller celebrations, like advent and Palm Sunday, etc.  The important thing is that Christians are regularly remembering the life and ministry of Jesus throughout the year.

This is great, but what to do with secular holidays?  These holidays are not evil in and of themselves but, for Christians, they should be sanctified.  Through thankfulness of believers that celebrate those days in a manner that still brings glory to God, holidays can be sancitifed.  New Years Eve/Day, for instance, is a secular holiday but an important one at that.

New Years is a celebration, a holiday for the turning of time and for the renewal that time can provide.  Every New Years, millions of people set resolutions, goals and hopes for the new year that they either hope will occur or that they plan for.  This is not entirely wrong, in fact, this is one of the ways that a secular holiday might be sanctified by the way that Christians handle it.

When New Years comes around, Christians should take is as an opportunity to asses, pray, and set some good goals in spiritual growth for the next year, like Bible reading, prayer, service, etc.  Additionally, New Years is a great yearly time to rededicate to the Lord, to repent of sin and to refocus on the rock, which is Christ.

There is another Christian celebration that comes more regularly than the others: communion.  The Eucharist was always meant to be a time of dedication and celebration of the Lord and His provision.  When we partake of communion, we are meant to examine ourselves and to remember to the Lord (1 Cor. 11).  We should come to the table ready and mindful of the Lord Jesus.

Feasts, festivals, and celebrations are a part of life.  God desires for us to celebrate Him throughout the year and to remember the great things that He has done, how He has provided for and delivered us.  Also, secular holidays such as halloween or july 4th should be taken as opportunities to celebrate Jesus.  Remember, Christians are never obligated to celebrate secular holidays the way that the world does.  Rather, Christians should always celebrate holidays in a thankful and godly manner.  In this way, we can truly be light to the world, shining His nature upon the world and its holidays too.