Weekly Devotional: Celebration and Rejoicing in Christ

“The Lord has done it this very day; let us rejoice today and be glad.” — Psalm 118:24, NIV

As Christians, we have so much to celebrate. Each day is a new day to celebrate and be thankful for what God has blessed us with. There are many ways we can celebrate what God has done whether it be through prayer, worship, serving or fellowship with other believers.

There are holidays devoted to celebrating different things that Jesus has done for us, such as his entrance into the world as a man at Christmas time and his resurrection at Easter. There are other special types of occasions where we celebrate our relationship and commitment to Christ such as baptisms. We also can show thankfulness for what God has given us when we celebrate birthdays or anniversaries.

However, it does not have to be a special day for us to celebrate what God has accomplished in our lives. After all, He has blessed us in so many ways. Rejoicing may not always be our immediate response especially when life feels difficult or in times with many trials; but, it is worthwhile as we are called to rejoice in Him.

Celebrating With Friends

“Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.” — Luke 15:23-24, NIV

In Luke 15, Jesus tells the parable of the lost son. At the end of the parable, the father of the son who squandered his money and left his family, threw a celebration because his son returned to him.

As believers, we can celebrate with others. When someone accepts salvation and becomes a Christian, it is a time of great joy. We can rejoice in this because, like in the parable, someone who was lost has become found.

We can also give thanks and praise when other good things happen in people’s lives. Sometimes it may be difficult to celebrate the victories of others. Perhaps jealousy creeps in or even thoughts about why others are receiving blessings that we are not. However, we can choose to focus on celebrating with them rather than comparing our own lives.

Rejoice in the Lord

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” — Philippians 4:4, NIV

No matter where you are in life and how you feel, there is still so much we can choose to celebrate. Rejoicing in the Lord is a choice we get to make each day.

When we accept Jesus, we can always rejoice in our salvation. Here are just a few other things from God we can choose to rejoice in no matter our situation:

• Love (1 John 4:16)
• Mercy (1 Peter 1:3)
• Grace (2 Corinthians 12:9)
• Peace (2 Thessalonians 3:16)
• Forgiveness (1 John 1:9)
• Promises (2 Peter 3:9)

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