Day 261- An Un First

A friend of mine handed me a bag with a card a day or so ago. She said I should read the card before I looked into the bag or the contents of the bag would not make any sense. I followed her instructions.  The card explained that her family loved Alice in Wonderland. They celebrate un-birthdays there.  This was news to me.  So, the bag contained gifts for my family to celebrate an un-birthday.  The kids were in bed when I got home that night, so we celebrated our un-birthday today for my "first."  Celebrating un-birthdays is certainly a "first" for me since I've never heard of it before.

This was seriously sweet and thoughtful.  There were treats for the kids, a magazine for Laura, and a Dairy Queen gift card (speaking of sweet) that I decided was for me.  I may bring the family along to celebrate with an un-blizzard or something. I know it had to take some time to pick out different things that each family member would like.  How cool is that?

The family loved the un-birthday.  Hannah Grace and Laura knew about un-birthdays; Joel and I let them explain the idea to us.  Every family member loved the gifts and were excited to celebrate.  The un-birthday brought an unusual burst of joy into our home tonight.  Yay!!

The Christian life is meant to be a life of celebration.  I know that it is not just that, but it is meant to be at least that.  God gave the Israelites different feasts to celebrate and these were meant to be times of celebration. When was the last time you were exhorted in church to go have a celebration?  In Deuteronomy 14, the tithe was used to have a big party.  The Bible says in that chapter, "If the distance is so great for you that you are not able to bring the tithe, since the place where the Lord your God chooses to set His name is too far away from you when the Lord your God blesses you, ²⁵ then you shall exchange it for money, and bind the money in your hand and go to the place which the Lord your God chooses. ²⁶ You may spend the money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen, or sheep, or wine, or strong drink, or whatever your heart desires; and there you shall eat in the presence of the Lord your God and rejoice, you and your household."  How's that for a use for the tithe?

It is not simply that you are to throw a party.  The Bible says that we are to rejoice in Him.  Philippians 4:4 says, "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!"  Of course, it's hard to rejoice when things are going south in your life, but Paul wrote that when he was in prison.  So, we can rejoice in the Lord at all times because He is the same at all times.  I sometimes wish that many believers knew how to celebrate a bit better. It has to be so much more than eating cake and drinking punch after church.  For the believer, God has forgiven us. God has adopted us. God has redeemed us.  God has made us citizens of heaven.  We really do have something worth partying about.

Why not cut loose a bit and really celebrate Jesus today.  He's so much more worthy than anything else in life that we might get really happy about.  The more we rejoice in Him and have joy in Him, the less pull the glamour of the world will have over us.

Celebrating the abundant life
Barry

3 things I thank God for today
1. Cards
2. Jesus is worth celebrating
3. Thoughtful friends