Celebrate good times - come on! - Devotion for 8/2/07

Celebrate good times – come on! – Devotion for 8/2/07

One of my favorite parts of any worship service is when we get to call out some of our celebrations – some of the thanksgivings we have for what God has been doing in our lives. I love to hear husbands awkwardly get up and announce the celebration of an anniversary, or a young couple announcing that they are expecting. I love the impromptu moments when someone is led to stand up and testify to a special way that God was present for them in the past week, maybe at the doctors office or as they were with a friend. To me the time of sharing our celebrations is truly what worship is about, because in lifting up those joys we are ascribing all good things to the eternal Good One. But here is the question: do we limit lifting up those joys and celebrations to just the worship service? What I mean is, do we consciously live our lives going out into the world sharing with friends and even strangers the good things that God has done for us?

Psalm 105 is my psalm for the week, and that passage begins by stating, “Oh give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name; make known His deeds among the peoples. Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; Speak of all His wonders” (Psalm 105:1-2). Psalm 105 goes on to give a brief sketch of the history of Israel, and the ways that God has provided for them. I think of that passage, and then I relate it to 2 Corinthians 5 where we are reminded that God sent His son to the earth to reconcile us to Him, allowing us to become new creations. “Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation . . . Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:18, 20). I believe that these passages are calling on us to lift up our joys and celebrations more than just in that special time of worship. I believe that we are called to lift up what God has done to the world – we are to be God’s ambassadors letting the world know what He has done. That doesn’t mean that you have to go up to perfect strangers and tell them “you’re going to hell if you don’t know Jesus.” It just means that you can share with others what a beautiful day God has given, or how God has blessed you with such a loving family. How can you celebrate and worship today outside of the context of a formal service?