Contemplative Bible Reading

Deuteronomy 16:14 (New International Version)

Be joyful at your Feast—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levites, the aliens, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns.

This verse is found in a passage in which God’s people are told about the three main feasts or festivals they were to celebrate each year. God wanted the people to celebrate these feasts so that they would remember events where He played a great role in the lives of their people.

The three feasts or festivals are:

1. The Feast of Unleavened Bread,
2. the Feast of Weeks, and the
3. the Feast of Tabernacles.

The Feast of the Unleavened Bread celebrated the Passover – that miraculous ocassion when God freed the people from slavery in Egypt. The other two feasts have to do with the harvest. The people were to recognize how blessed they were to have a bountiful harvest. That meant life for another year. They were to also recognize the part that God played in their harvest. He gave them the harvest and the accompanying life to enjoy.

But why did God command the people to be joyful at your Feast? Surely joy would be part of a gathering of family, friends, and food. These feasts were to last a full week. A full week of feasting with no work. Who wouldn’t be joyful in that circumstance?

What is man that God would have to remind us to be joyful in the middle of a celebration? This reminds me of a story a preacher told of how he and his wife went on a seven-day cruise. Food everywhere, no toil, no work, a vacation paradise. Yet, there were people on the cruise ship who were angry and annoyed. Such is man.

God, help me to see and appreciate my blessings. Help me to see the festivals and feasts that I have been given almost everyday of the year. Help me to see you in these blessings and be joyful.