It's Okay to Indulge Sometimes

"Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all, "This day is sacred to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep." For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law.

10 Nehemiah said, "Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength."

11 The Levites calmed all the people, saying, "Be still, for this is a sacred day. Do not grieve."

12 Then all the people went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them." Nehemiah 8:9-12

I have a confession. After Thanksgiving was over, I was feeling guilty this year. I was feeling guilty that we spend Thanksgiving feasting and eating more than we should as a celebration. And I thought that it should be more than that, and that maybe we were doing too much in terms of how much food we were cooking. It's been in the back of my mind ever since, as I've been contemplating how we could do Thanksgiving different next year.

This morning though, I turned to Nehemiah chapter 8 and found something very exciting to me! We find a large group of people all assembled together, being taught what God's Word has to say to them. Many of the people, on hearing God's Words for them, began sobbing and mourning all the bad things they had done, and they were crying because they finally understood what God had to tell them. But it was God himself who told the people to stop crying, and stop their mourning. Rather, they should go out and celebrate with a feast. They should enjoy the choice food and sweet drinks and celebrate together, and there should be no reason for dismay on this day that they celebrated.

It just struck a chord with me that it's okay for us to celebrate Thanksgiving the way we do. We don't need to worry about it being considered gluttonous, because it's not. It's a celebration of what the Lord has provided for us, a day that reminds us to be thankful for that which we have been given. It's a feast day. If we were feasting every day, that would be considered gluttony. During the Dark Ages in medieval England they did feast every day- one of the many reasons it's considered the Dark Ages. It's okay to feast a few times a year in celebration. We have another feast day coming up yet with Christmas coming. Could there be a better day to celebrate the birth of our Savior with a great feast in his honor?

And it's even okay to extend a feast to last several days- as we read on in Nehemiah 8, the people feasted for a full week before gathering again to worship God and go their ways. Imagine what a week-long feast and celebration must be like. I think of traditional weddings which can last three days. Just three days of celebration can be exhausting- I can't imagine a full week. But that's probably a good thing.

"Day after day, from the first day to the last, Ezra read from the Book of the Law of God. They celebrated the feast for seven days, and on the eighth day, in accordance with the regulation, there was an assembly." Nehemiah 8:18

It really was great to find this verse this morning. I no longer feel bad in the least about Thanksgiving. And it has me wondering instead, what I can do to make it seem more Feast-like. Feast days are more than acceptable according to God. If you haven't read the whole chapter of Nehemiah 8, I suggest you do, it's a fun chapter to read, and makes me want to start celebrating Christmas right now.