Just a few weeks ago, we observed the Feast of Tabernacles. For some, it was at the local Feast site. Some of us kept it at home and watched services on-line. For others, it was a transfer to a site within our own country or to a site far away in another country. Whatever the case may have been, we will have observed a meaningful and memorable Feast!
However, was it your best Feast ever? How does one go about determining if the most recent Feast observance was our very best Feast? If it was your first Feast, then the determination is easy, but after multiple Feasts it becomes more challenging.
Does it really matter if it was your best Feast ever? Can Feast observances be quantified on a scale of “good”, “better” and “best”? If so, what criteria should be used to make such a determination? So much of what we as humans experience is surprisingly subjective.
Elements of the Feast of Tabernacles are educational, cultural, social, gastronomical and, most of all, spiritual.
Several years ago, an individual announced that he/she was going to have a year-off kind of Feast. The family would not be serving in any aspect of the Feast. They would not be volunteering to help out in any way. They would only attend the activities they wanted to attend and avoid those they were not interested in. They would perhaps even skip church services in order to experience excursions and events that the local community had to offer that conflicted with the Feast of Tabernacles activity schedule.
Our best Feasts invariably occur when we follow the edict identified in Acts 20:35 – it is more blessed to give than to receive.
Our most meaningful and memorable Feasts are when we participate and serve the most. Psalm 133:1 proclaims, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” We see this happening in real time when
attend church services at the Feast of Tabernacles. Singing together, saying “AMEN” together, turning to the same Scripture together, taking notes together, concluding together with the closing “AMEN” -- all of these are cohesive experiences whether we were attending in person or on-line. How so? Because of the privilege of attending daily worship services nine days in a row. It is the intensity and frequency that produces the result.
We can further deduce this from Acts 2:46 where it states, “So continuing daily with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favour with all the people.”
Was the 2022 Feast of Tabernacles my very best ever? I can’t say it was for certain. However, I can say with certainty that it was among the very best Feasts I have ever observed. It was a wonderful time of caring, sharing and worshipping together!
