January 18

Day 310: Feasting

I have a friend, a very smart friend, who wrote his PhD dissertation on Papua New Guinea; specifically his research on their annual feasts. He and his family lived in"PNG" as missionaries for several years. Cultural Anthropology is his field, I think.

Way way back, the people of Israel were given a feast schedule. And each feast came with a very detailed list of instructions.

Every Friday night was reserved for the Sabbath. Added to that, the Passover Feast, the Feast of Firstfruits, the Feast of Weeks, the Feast of Trumpets, The Day of Atonement and the Feast of Booths were all calendared for each year.

Some of these feasts were to be somber and reflective. Others were to be celebratory and party-like. All of them required some sort of sacrifice to be given to God. And they all involved eating, which is probably good if you're going to call something a feast.

You may ask; Why so many feasts? It's because God's people can also be a forgetful people. And God knows this. Boy, does He know this! Just read anything in the Old Testament, south of Genesis 3, for examples.

Like them, we're a forgetful people, because we are a distracted people. And what distracts us most often is the condition of our own hearts. Then we don't see what we're no longer looking for.

Paul Tripp describes it like this: "Worry robs peace. Doubt plunders faith. Anxiety decimates rest...Worry is forgetful. Anxiety is a form of amnesia.

And what do we end up forgetting? God's presence. God's holiness. God's sovereignty. God's plan. God's wisdom. God's deliverance. God's provision. God's grace.

So God included some reminders. Mandatory reminders. He called them feasts. So His people could re-remember Who God is, and what God had done.

I'm actually surprised God didn't mandate a feast for every month, even every week of the year. I can be so forgetful, God wouldn't be out of bounds to require me to observe a feast every day!

Actually, I think He did just that. He gave me a book, and told me to read it, ponder it, believe it, pray through it, and live by it. Everyday.

Because He knows even better than I know, that I am easily forgetful. Because I am easily distracted. So I need regular reminders.

So when Jesus said He was the "Bread of Life," He meant He was to be feasted on. Consumed. Internalized. At regular scheduled times. Often, if not daily. As often as I would be motivated to eat.

Be it in Papua New Guinea, or here in Juneau, Alaska, who doesn't want to be feasting when invited to do so?

-Mike Rydman, Lead Pastor, Radiant Church Juneau