“But the father said to the servants, “Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.” –Luke 15:22-24
Celebrations are on my mind right now–the concept of them and how and what we celebrate. We celebrate birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, engagements, babies, successes, wins, accolades, achievements, and the list could go on and on. Perhaps this is on my mind because we have been celebrating my sister’s birthday. When she was sharing with me her plans for her special day, it made me smile and be happy for her. Later, as I reflected on our conversation, I realized that when and what we celebrate seems to occur at a greater number when people are younger. As we get older, we tend to lose the art of truly celebrating. It is as if things don’t stir the same level of desire in us to celebrate.
I found myself wondering why this is so. It occurred to me that perhaps we have gotten it all wrong. The older we get, the more we should be celebrating. The more reason we have to celebrate. God is a God of celebration. He created the concept of celebrating. In the Old Testament, in ancient times, He instituted festivals for the nation of Israel to observe. God established the celebration of Passover and Festival of Unleavened Bread. The purpose of this celebration was to remember God’s deliverance of Israel from Egyptian captivity. Israel celebrated the Festival of Weeks. This celebration pointed to God’s provision and a reminder of Israel’s total dependence on God. The Hebrew nation celebrated the Festival of Booths or Tabernacles. This was a celebration of rejoicing of all of God’s goodness to them in the harvest. It also served as a reminder of the days of wandering in the wilderness. These are only a few of the festivals God established for His people. God is a God of celebration. Celebrating makes me think of King David and how he would celebrate God and victory in battle with singing, worship, and dancing. God and His goodness, faithfulness, blessing, provision, protection, forgiveness, and redemption should be at the heart of all of our celebrations. Daily, God in His grace and favor, has given us cause for celebration.
In the New Testament, we read of examples of celebration as well. In Luke 15 alone, we read of three different causes for celebration. In verses 1-7, we read the parable of the lost sheep. One sheep was separated from the other ninety-nine. The good shepherd left the ninety-nine in search of the one. There was great rejoicing and celebration when the sheep was found and returned to the fold. The shepherd gathered his friends and neighbors to rejoice with him at the return of the one. In verses 8-10, we read the parable of the woman who lost one of her ten silver coins. Upon finding it, she, too, gathered her friends and her neighbors to rejoice and to celebrate the found coin. Finally, in verses 11-32, we read the well-known parable of the prodigal son or in other cultures, known as the running father. The spoiled son requested the portion of his inheritance while his father was still alive. He subsequently squandered the inheritance and was left penniless and hungry, desiring the slop he was feeding to the pigs. The wayward son realized the foolishness of his ways, and he returned home to his father with the intent to ask his father to be among his hired hands. When the father saw him far in the distance, he went running towards him. The father hosted a feast in celebration of the son’s return. In each of these parables, we learn and recognize that there is great rejoicing when the lost are found.
Now, not many of us would host a party if our missing sheep or lost coin was found. (Actually, if it were me and if my dogs were missing and was found, I probably would throw a celebration and everyone reading would be invited to celebrate and rejoice with me when they were found.) In all seriousness, though, we see in both the Old and New Testaments that God is a God of celebration, and He gives us great cause to celebrate. We learn that He wants our hearts postured towards Him in celebration. We read that He loves a good party and celebration. Celebration occurs in community so we see that God is a God of community. He wants us to come together and celebrate His goodness and His bountiful blessings to us and to each other.
Coming back to my original thoughts on celebrating, I was struck by the thought that we seem to celebrate more when we are younger. Consider what we celebrate. High school and college graduations are most often within the first 25 years or so of life. Engagements, weddings, babies–each of these are usually celebrated within the next 5-10 years after that. How do we celebrate those things? We have parties and showers. Think about this–at my place of work, we have celebrated with baby showers and a retirement party this year. What that means to me is this: once you have a baby, you don’t usually get celebrated again until you retire! No one seems to be hosting an empty nest party or paying off your mortgage party. Here is a sobering question, when was the last time you attended a party with the sole purpose of celebrating someone who came to know Jesus as Savior? It is high time we begin to shift our perspective on who and what we celebrate. Sure, we absolutely should continue to celebrate all the major life milestones together. But what would our lives look like and how tender would our hearts be if we began to truly celebrate all of the little gifts and blessings from our gracious and good Heavenly Father? We don’t need to have huge bashes, but what about sharing with a friend or neighbor a blessing you have received from God? How about testifying to the goodness of God in the everyday moments of life? We don’t need to wait for the next major life event, especially if it is a celebration of life, to begin celebrating in our lives. God is the creator of celebrations. How much joy and delight He must have in His children as He watches us delight in His goodness to us!
As you journey through your days this week, look for reasons to celebrate. A sunrise. A hot cup of coffee. Mountain views. The sound of birds chirping in the morning. Dogs chasing each other happily through the yard. A well-written book. A cold cup of water on a hot day. A friendship. God showing up over and over in countless ways in our everyday lives. Because we have Jesus, we have cause to celebrate every single day. How will you choose to celebrate?
The Satisfied Soul 
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