Seize the Moment – Day 638
Tell God’s Story on the Holidays!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Wednesday, December 15.
What are the stories that define you as a part of a larger group of people to which you belong? Within our American culture, we commemorate Thanksgiving and Memorial Day. Additionally, as Christians, we celebrate Christmas and Easter. We are shaped by the stories we tell on these days!
Deuteronomy, like Exodus and Numbers, teaches the importance of the feasts, with Deuteronomy 16 prescribing, once again, the three pilgrimage feasts. Listen to verses 16-17:
Three times in a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God in the place which He chooses, at the Feast of Unleavened Bread and at the Feast of Weeks and at the Feast of Booths, and they shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed. Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord your God which He has given you.
The Feast of Unleavened Bread, in conjunction with the Passover, commemorates the exodus when God delivered His people from Egyptian slavery. The Feast of Weeks, also known as the Feast of Harvest or Pentecost, happens seven weeks after Passover, and not only celebrates the grain harvest, but has come to remember the receiving of the Law at Mount Sinai and the people’s entrance into the Promised Land. The Feast of Booths, or Tabernacles, memorializes Israel’s forty years of wilderness wanderings.
These national festivals required the nation to come together, and for the men of each family to bring a tribute. Like Christmas and Easter are designed to do, these festivals anchored the Israelite people in their common heritage and shared faith. By retelling the miraculous stories of God’s direct activity in history, our corporate identity becomes deeply rooted in our shared faith.
Seize the moment and tell the God story in our holidays! Children, families, and communities are shaped by the stories we tell at the holidays we celebrate!