Exodus 23:14-17 “Each year you must celebrate three festivals in my honor. First, celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread. For seven days the bread you eat must be made without yeast, just as I commanded you. Celebrate this festival annually at the appointed time in early spring, in the month of Abib, for that is the anniversary of your departure from Egypt. No one may appear before me without an offering. Second, celebrate the Festival of Harvest, when you bring me the first crops of your harvest. Finally, celebrate the Festival of the Final Harvest at the end of the harvest season, when you have harvested all the crops from your fields. At these three times each year, every man in Israel must appear before the Sovereign, the Lord.”
Notice that the three required festivals were commemorating my impact on the Israelites’ lives. The Festival of Unleavened Bread was a remembrance of when I delivered them not only from the Egyptians and their slavery, but from My avenging angel of death. It spared their lives and the lives of their firstborn. The Festival of Harvest and the Festival of the Final Harvest both celebrate My provision for My children. It is too easy for My children to forget who I am. It is too easy for you to begin to believe that everything that happens in your lives is under your control. It is too easy for you to take credit for what I provide. If you forget that it is I who creates, it is I who controls all, it is I who provides for you …. When you forget that and begin to run in your own strength and power, when you forget who I am and believe it is all about you, then the troubles mount. Then you step outside My protective covering. Then you mess it all up and blame Me. So, Child, it is important that you remember. Always. I am He who created everything. I am He who controls the world in which you live. I am He who provides for your every need. So find ways to commemorate these facts. Find ways to remind yourself at all times that it is not you who control anything. Find ways to remember that when you are making all the decisions, it is usually not a good outcome. Look to Me. Remember who I AM. Seek My wisdom, My discernment, My knowledge. Believe in and trust My provision. Commemorate those times that you have seen My hand in your life, My provision, My salvation, My protection. When you preserve – even celebrate – those times that you know it was My hand at work, then you are more able to step back and allow Me to handle the details of your life.
Amanuensis 