#DailyDevotion Help Us To Remember All Your Goodness And Respond Accordingly
Easter Week 5 Wednesday
Read Lev 23:23–44
Lev 23:37-38 “These are the appointed feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim as times of holy convocation, for presenting to the LORD food offerings, burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each on its proper day, (38) besides the LORD’s Sabbaths and besides your gifts and besides all your vow offerings and besides all your freewill offerings, which you give to the LORD…42 You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All native Israelites shall dwell in booths, (43) that your generations may know that I made the people of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.”
The rest of this chapter also list and gives details for other feasts of the Lord for the Israelites so they may have times of rest and festive gatherings. Among those was also the Day of Atonement (which not quite so festive as a day of affliction). But we may want to take note of two other things in this chapter.
In verse 38, the Lord noted that these festivals were in addition to vow offerings, freewill offerings, gifts and Sabbaths. In other words, it was expected the Israelites were at other times going to be giving and making various and sundry gifts of thanksgiving to the Lord and making vows to the Lord with gifts and celebrating the Sabbaths throughout the year.
From this we may take as Christians that while we have no mandated festivals from the Lord, while we have made up several festivals to gather and remember certain aspects of our Lord Jesus Christ’s life i.e. Christmas and Easter, it is expected that we will regularly gather like the Israelites on certain days to rest and imbibe on the Word of God together. It is also expected that we will also make vows, freewill offerings, and thanksgiving offerings throughout the year also, to provide for the pastor and for the maintenance of where we choose to worship.
And then there is the Feasts of Booths God commanded the Israelites to observe so that they would remember what their ancestors did because the Lord had delivered them from the hands of the Egyptians and brought them into the Promised Land. Our Lord Jesus Christ, in his Supper, has given us a feast which we can celebrate weekly or even daily to remember what he, the Lord has done for us—he delivered us from sin, death and the power of the devil on his cross and by is resurrection. There we have not only a remembrance but also the very power to deliver right now what he accomplished on the cross.
Heavenly Father, even as you have delivered your people the Israelites and gave them festivals for times of joy, merriment and the remembrance of your salvation, ever provide for us also times of joy and remembrance of all you have done for us in your Son Jesus Christ so his joy may always fill our hearts. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.