Leviticus 23

These different feasts and festivals that God established were for the Israelites to have good, clean fun!  These were times for the Israelites to celebrate with God.  God encourages us to celebrate and be joyful.  The celebration of certain holidays in today’s society are good opportunities for believers to choose to honor God and rejoice in Him instead of following popular culture.   For example, are we going to focus on the birth of our Lord and Savior at Christmas time, or on materialism and Santa Claus?  Are we going to celebrate Christ’s resurrection at Easter, or have everything revolve around candy, eggs and the Easter Bunny?  There is nothing wrong with having fun and enjoying gifts at Christmas time, and even talking about Santa Claus (especially since Saint Nicholas was a real person).  But, we need to have our primary focus on God and Jesus, and never forget why we are celebrating these holidays.  What changes can you make to your family holiday traditions to redirect the focus back to God?  In addition, today’s culture also tries to tell us that we cannot have a party without it leading to debauchery and/or immorality.  This is completely untrue, as one can have a fantastic time without sin being involved, although it does require self-discipline and control.  Remember that when we celebrate God’s way, we are free from the effects of sin.  Even better, we can rejoice in the Lord each day, which will lead us to finding a reason to celebrate in our everyday life.