I love celebrating the Lord, life, people, and special events! Years ago, I helped organize a worship opportunity called Celebration. It was a wonderful and meaningful time because we all knew we needed Jesus to lift our vision from ourselves. Even when we began in lament, we ended in celebration, because God’s presence was sweet, and we knew He was transforming us by His grace and shaping us for His purpose.
I must also say that not everyone in the church appreciated our worship service. In fact, some souls were sour and negative. It did not matter to them that people were growing in their love for God and learning how to live and serve according to His purpose. They had simply made up their minds to remain disgruntled. I never let it trouble me, because I knew Jesus was guiding us.
As we continue on our spiritual journey toward Jerusalem and the cross of Christ, we take one more glimpse at the story of the prodigal son. The Father sets up a celebration because the younger son has come home. True, he wasted his money on worldly living, but he finally came to his senses and realized the power of the Father’s presence. He understood that he had valued the wrong things. The older son, however, resented the celebration. His nose was out of joint because he had remained faithful to the Father, yet had never been given a party. In fact, he chose not to enter the celebration and instead carried a poor spiritual disposition.
Remember, the story is about the Father. In our passage, the Father reassures his older son: “You are always with me, and everything I have is yours. We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!” (Luke 15:31–32, NLT)
It was time to celebrate. God shows no favoritism, and He celebrates each of our hearts when we abide in His love. Besides, God’s presence is the greatest gift. He is the source of every good and perfect gift. We must learn to be content and to rejoice when people turn back to God to be renewed in mind and transformed in soul.
Hebrews 13:5 (NLT) “Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, ‘I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.’”
Prayer: Father, thank You for celebrating our hearts when we seek You and long to enjoy Your presence. Help us to trust You and to be satisfied with the goodness You extend to each one of us. Help us guard our hearts against having a sour spiritual disposition. Fill us with joy, and help us glorify Your name even as we remain a work in progress. In Jesus’ name. Amen.