Monday, October 10, 2011

Celebrating God's Work



I’ve been reading through Genesis and Exodus lately and
something came to my attention today.
Anytime God would do something for the Israelites, he would have them
pick a special way to mark that event so that they would never forget. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob all made alters at
specific places so that they could give a sacrifice to God out of gratitude for
his provision. They would leave those
alters up to stand as a witness that God had provided for them so that whoever
passed by would see and be reminded.



When God prepared the Israelites for the Passover, he gave
Moses instructions to celebrate that event every year as a way to always
remember that God rescued Israel from the Egyptians.



After Moses led Israel out of Egypt, God told them to mark
the day on their calendars and celebrate it every year so that they would always
remember the day that they left Egypt.



Then, when God provided manna, God gave Moses instructions
to collect several quarts of it and place it in a sacred spot so that the
Israelites could always have it with them as a remembrance of how God provided
for them in the wilderness. This
eventually became one of the items in the arc of the covenant.



It seems to me that God finds it very important for us to
mark special occurrences in our life that remind us of him. One of the most common things that Christians
do today is communion. We take communion
in “remembrance” of Jesus Christ. We
also celebrate Christmas and Easter for this same reason.



What are some other things that you do in order to remember
how God has come through for you? Do you
have any special days of the year that you celebrate to remind yourself of a
past event in your life where God provided for you? Do you ever set anything aside as a reminder
of God’s provision? Do you ever mark
down specific events in your life that are significant in your walk with
God?



This is something I want to start doing. I write in a prayer journal periodically, but
that’s about as close as I come to this type of thing. But celebration is an important part of the
Christian walk. We celebrate birthdays
and national holidays, as we should. But
I want to start celebrating spiritual holidays as well! Want to join me? Respond to this and give me your best ideas
of what we can celebrate!



1 comment:

  1. Good thoughts, JD. I like to see birthdays, anniversaries, and the like as spiritual holidays -- opportunities to celebrate blessings and to thank God. Remembering special times like baptism can help, too. I still have something I wrote the night I came back to God after a time of intense doubt, and it refreshes my faith every time I read it.

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