I read with interest of the party celebrating the induction of Dallas Cowboys owner, Jerry Jones, into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The Dallas Morning News reported the cost around $10 million. There were lots of celebrities with great food and entertainment. It was celebrating quite a milestone. It is not every day that anyone, especially an owner gets into the Hall of Fame. Not everyone gets invited to the party either. (My invitation must have been lost in the mail.)

Some people resent such partying. They focus on all the good that could have been done with $10 million. I find myself tending to think like that, and I want to challenge that attitude toward celebration, especially as a God-lover. He loves parties. He designed us to celebrate. In fact, we find our truest self when we lose ourselves in the celebration of ultimate glory.

The whole meaning of life is wrapped up in our celebrating the unmatched majesty of God himself. We were designed to be image-bearers — reflectors of God’s glory. As we celebrate his unique and unmatched nature, we lose our need to be gods. We see that not everything wrong is our fault and fixing everything is not our job. We relax in being humans and not gods.

God Told His People Israel Celebrate

God commands us to celebrate him above all other entities because anything less will not satisfy the longing in our inner most being. Why would a loving God want us to glory in anything less than ultimate goodness? He commands us to love only him since he is the highest object of praise, and that we love him with all our being. To do anything less is to settle for dissatisfaction.

Humans are most fulfilled when they are focused on the unsurpassed glory of the God who has proven his love for them.

God did mighty works for his people Israel. They are recorded throughout the Old Testament. He established feasts for them to celebrate some of the most significant works. These feasts lasted for days. They weren’t some cheap hot dog and hamburger type parties. There was lots of food, barrels of wine, joyful dancing, loud shouting — just fun.

And there were lots of feasts. They dotted the calendar all over. Passover, Tabernacles, Pentecost … Sometimes you wonder, “when did they get their work done?” Part of their work was to celebrate the goodness and faithfulness of God. Humans are most fulfilled when they are focused on the unsurpassed glory of the God who has proven his love for them.

But Israel refused to obey the command to celebrate the feasts. What? They turned down the invitation to party? Yep. They turned down the invitation. They were too busy trying to establish their own glory. They couldn’t take the time to stop and celebrate the many expressions of mercy that God had bestowed. Jesus told a story about two brothers who responded to a party their father was giving. One who had messed up big time came to the party celebrating the father’s love for him. The other wouldn’t attend because he was focused on what he had done to merit the favor of the father. (See Luke 15:11-31.)

As Christians, We Ought to Celebrate Every Day

The most expensive party ever is going on right now. It cost the Father his own Son. None of us merits an invitation, but we are given one. He offers us forgiveness, cleansing, abundant joy, and partnership in the family business. We don’t separate our worship from our work. We party while we work and work while we party. When we see how big and good he is, we can’t help but celebrate. If we aren’t celebrating it is probably because we have a poor vision of him.

The recent inductees to football’s Hall of Fame were decorated because of their achievements. God is never decorated by us, but he can be celebrated. We can’t add to his fame, but we can enjoy his exaltation. Our praise won’t change him, but we will change. Don’t miss this party.