A Daily Devotion for Friday, July 17
- ontrakk
- 3 days ago
- 2 min read
Deuteronomy 16:13-17
Celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing floor and your winepress. Be joyful at your festival—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites, the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns. For seven days celebrate the festival to the LORD your God at the place the LORD will choose. For the LORD your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete.
Three times a year all your men must appear before the LORD your God at the place he will choose: at the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks and the Festival of Tabernacles. No one should appear before the LORD empty-handed: Each of you must bring a gift in proportion to the way the LORD your God has blessed you.
These verses in Deuteronomy are part of very lengthy instructions from God about how the Israelites are to live their lives in the Promised Land. As a people, the Jews were accustomed to bringing tithes and offerings to God. But this festival seems a bit different. There is a focus on bringing the people together, to gather and to be thankful together. The servants, foreigners, the fatherless and the widows are all mentioned as being included along with all members of the family. This was part of God’s direction for His people. Anyone could pray, or make an offering or present a tithe on their own at any time, of course. But God seems to be making it clear that he wants us together at special times. He wants us to make the effort to travel to be together. And he directs us to be thankful for our many blessings.
Lord, when we gather for our holidays this Fall, may I remember these festivals and your commands to the Israelites. Help me to see the needs of others who may not have a family. Help me to be generous, Lord. Above all, may I remain truly thankful for your many blessings, during holidays and every day. Amen
Becky, transforming
Deuteronomy 16:13-17 A Future With Hope
After wandering so many years in the desert, God offered some hope with the information in Chapter 16. I never knew that God loved large celebrations so much. He tells the Isrealites in Chapter 16 to celebrate three different times each for different reason. The best part for me to read was that they were to share these celebrations, and all that went with them, with everyone! Family, servants, other foreigners, orphans, and widows. How often do we celebrate this way? It is a bit more difficult in tody's world to follow these guidelines. We need to think about others that we could include in our celebrations.
Prayer: Gracious God, help me to b…
Deuteronomy 16:13-17
The phrase that stood out to me in this passage is, “celebrate the festival to the LORD your God at the place the LORD will choose.” This is a reminder to me that church as a verb is much more consequential than as a noun. The Lord puts us in places where, if we are mindful, we can celebrate God’s glory, provision and blessings. We don’t have to be in a specific building at a specific time on a specific day to celebrate the “festival to the Lord.” Striving to be mindful of the Lord’s presence will guide our “doing” of church at all times and in all places.
Prayer - Omnipresent God, as You are with us…