It All Begins with a Celebration!

Exodus 5:1

Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, so that they may celebrate a festival to me in the wilderness.’ ”

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I just want to celebrate, yeah, yeah, another day of living, yeah
I just want to celebrate another day of livin', yeah
I just want to celebrate another day of life

"I Just Want to Celebrate" by Rare Earth

So that's how it all begins. Yes, Israel is oppressed in Egypt. Yes, Egypt is in fear of Israel and their sheer numbers. Yes, there is one to set free the nation, Moses. Yes, there is one who stands in his way, Pharaoh.

Moses shows up and says "Let my people go, we just want to celebrate another day of life." Well, I'm not going to go into the entire Exodus to make a tremendous theological point, I want to make a smaller wonderful point instead.

The Lord wants us to celebrate! The Lord wants us to celebrate our worship! How often is worship truly a celebration? There's a continuum here. Worship can be drier than leather left to cure in the desert for a full summer, and worship can be so over the top that it's entertainment instead of celebration. These extremes are just that. One binds people (while trying to bind the Holy Spirit) and the other tries to be so "relevant" that it means nothing.

Maybe Moses and Rare Earth have something together. Moses calls for a celebration to worship the Lord. Rare Earth celebrates another day of living. Let us celebrate living in the light of the Lord and let's do it one day at a time. Each day, every day.

Beware the extremes, because the Lord is the most extreme God we can ever celebrate. Our additions are just gilding the lily.