“Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to divide the day from the night; let them be for signs, seasons, days and years; and let them be for lights in the dome of the sky to give light to the earth; and that is how it was.” Genesis 1:14-15 CJB.
“For everything there is a season, a right time for every intention under heaven…” Ecclesiastes 3:1 CJB.
I’ve recently become acquainted with a young man, married, has two young daughters and is, I estimate, quite knowledgeable in his chosen field of expertise.
His one daughter was coming up on her fifth birthday and he and his wife had a party planned for her that included their close circle of family and loved ones. It just so happens that the same day as his daughter’s is the birthday of an older gentleman within that circle and he was to be at the party. He mentioned in the conversation he was having with my wife and me that he was going to make sure the focus of the event remained on his daughter in the sense that the older gentleman has a tendency to, well, “steal the show”, so to speak. Now he didn’t say that in so many words but there was something in it that brought that idea to mind. And family dynamics…well you’d really have to be there. And it’s not that he doesn’t get along with or like this person. What I got out of that was that his daughter was the object of his attention. It was to be her day and party and hers alone. And he was going to protect that. What I also got out of that was there was a tie, an affection he has for his daughter, which motivates him to think about her, her days, the common and set apart days, you could say, all of them.
It’s not blasphemy or disrespect or irreverence towards, or desire to make jealous, our Father by having a special event whether a birthday, the start of a new year, a graduation, the memory of a significant day in history or of a significant person in our lives now gone or an anniversary, of our own making.
We have an acknowledgement in the Scriptures, that there are intentions and there is a “season, a right time” for them. We have been given a calendar and markers in the heavens to indicate the timing of these “seasons and right times” so that we can plan and look forward to each day including special days in which we give heightened attention to someone or something.
The prohibition is that we do not neglect the set apart days that we were/are given to observe by Yahweh Himself, the “designated times of ADONAI.” Leviticus 23:44.CJB.
Whose times?
“ADONAI said to Moshe, ‘…the designated times of ADONAI which you are to proclaim…are My designated times.”’ Leviticus 23:2 CJB.
We are not to neglect their observance. And we are not to allow the focus on Him to be shared by anyone or anything else, “…for I ADONAI, your God, am a jealous God.” Deuteronomy 5:9 CJB.
Not because we are afraid of His anger, though we should be, but also because we love Him and that love leads us to think about Him, all the days He has given us, the common and set apart and protect them.
He hasn’t told us not to have special days of our own making for the purpose of blessing, celebration or memorial. They are secondary and not meant to take the place of or be more significant than His.
These temporal secondary days that have meaning for us should be planned and begin being engaged in, with a spirit and out loud declaration of gratitude and thanksgiving to Jehovah God, for the sobering, the good and meaningful in our lives through the people and events that have their source in Him, that He has placed in our lives. Then we can do what special times are supposed to do and that is to acknowledge the value and love we have for a child, a spouse, a friend, a time, place, or memory, personally.
Father, we thank You that there are oasis’s in the days of the year, in the years of our lives, which are special times. We thank You that You have given us Your Designated times for heightened fellowship with You and with one another, to praise You and give You glory, times to think about and plan for and anticipate and protect. We engage in these and we give You glory. We share it with no one or nothing else. It is You we focus on. And we thank You Father, for the special people and events of our lives You have blessed us with and the spirit of love and honor for others You have placed in us to express. We make heightened demonstration of that love and honor towards one another desiring to bless and we pray that it does… and Father…
to You be all glory and honor.
In Yeshua’s name we pray,
Amen.
May God’s love be in us all.
Elder.