Festivals!

Don't you love this time of year with all the spring festivals? In the Shreveport/Bossier area we have the Holiday in Dixie, we have crawfish or mudbug festival, we have the cinco de mayo and the list goes on and on. People love to get together and share the time celebrating...celebrating what?

Well, today's psalm that touched my heart was Psalm 81. One of the commentaries called it "Start the Music". I liked it right off. You can hear the noises in the air.

In the bible, we have 3 festivals. April - barley, May - wheat, October was the grape festival where they made the wine. This particular psalm was written during the grape harvest or the Festival of Tents. Now my tents in the picture are brightly colored and like we have now days at festivals, but these tents were made from animal skins that would have been at the grape harvest (tent). The people would go to the festival and live for one week at the festival in the tents. It was to be a reminder of the days of the people gone by when they left Egypt and God brought them to the new land.

Imagine, the noises, the people, the music celebrating God. The first 4 verses give us a good picture of singing praises, beating tambourines, playing the lyre and the harp, blowing the horns. You feel and hear it, don't you?

Now, we remember what God did for us. We have praised and we begin to get thoughtful and think. We remember how God set us free. How God took the load off our shoulders and freed us from those heavy burdens. We remember the time that we were in so much pain that we never thought we would be okay again, but God answered us and took us out of the storm.

After we remember we tend to forget, sometimes? don't we? We begin to think about ourselves first or what it is that we desire. We begin to put other things ahead of God and they become more important than God don't they? So what will you follow?

Trouble. Trouble when we put other Gods before our Heavenly Father right? When money, status, a habit absolutely anything is placed before God we are guaranteed that trouble is on the way!!

I love the image ladies. We are at a festival we are praising God, we celebrate, we remember, we are thoughtful and how soon we all forget exactly Who and What God has done for us. A very powerful image indeed.

Remember today, What God did for us and does for us. First and foremost, remember that God sent His son for you and for me! He pulls us out of our storms and takes care of us. Do celebrate God today, but always remember who He is Our Mighty Heavenly Father that loves us so very much!!!

Remembering,