Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Springtime

I think every season is my favorite as it comes around because I'm always ready for the next change, but spring is my favorite of favorites. In America, we celebrate the new year in January, in the middle of the winter. According to the biblical calendar, however, the month of Nisan is the beginning of the year, which always falls around March or April of the gregorian calendar, and I love how the spring season fits with this. It is such a time of renewal when the world around us is springing to life after a long, cold winter. What a great time for fresh starts!

It is amazing to me how the Lord has worked His timing to reveal important events to us. First, Passover, where we're redeemed from our slavery (to sin), then the Feast of Unleavened Bread, where we begin our journey away from our personal Egypt and our slavery. Now, we're counting the Omer, which is basically counting out 50 days to the day of Shavuot, more widely know as Pentecost. This is traditionally known as the day of the giving of the Torah at Sinai, and Christians also know this day as the day of the giving of the Spirit after Jesus' ascention. Both of these, the written Word and the Word written on our hearts, give us the tools we need to take further steps away from the sin in our lives and to bear fruits of righteousness.


What a wise and awesome God we serve! He has taken the physical world around us and used it as yet another teaching tool for His wayward children. The birds gathering once again in the budding trees, flowers sprouting and the grass greening...all beautiful reminders to allow Him to melt our cold, hard hearts so that we can bear fruit once again!



"Create in me a clean heart, O God; And renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; And uphold me with a willing spirit." Psalm 51:10-12

5 comments:

  1. Trishia,

    I am new to the Biblical Feasts and am learning as I go along. Gail has been a great teacher just reading all of her wealth of information. Would you mind telling me how your family specifically prepares for the upcoming feasts and what you specifically do to celebrate them? Sometimes it is hard to incorporate new celebrations with Daddy being gone...especially when I am such a novice, but I would really like to learn from others that have already walked this path. God bless!

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  2. There are so many things you can do! There are a few Biblical mandates on how to keep the feasts and beyond that, it is really up to your family on what traditions to keep and not to keep. I purchased a book produced by Heart of Wisdom (written by Robin Sampson & Linda Pierce) called "A Family Guide to the Biblical Holidays." The book covers the most common traditions and how/why they came to be. It also reviews the Scriptural mandates regarding the feasts. I found this book to be sooooo helpful to get started. Main thing to keep in mind is that it's all about entering into fellowship with God...not about generically keeping the commands.

    As for right now, we're counting the omer each night, which involves saying a blessing and stating which day of the omer we're on. Simple thing...it's basically just to keep track of the number of days until Shavuot. It's also a good time to prepare our hearts for the next feast and focus on getting rid of any sins that may have crept into our lives.

    I really recommend the book though (and I know there are other great books out there on the subject), because for those of us still learning about all of this, it's a great guide to help get a basic understanding of all the feasts and the traditions involved (there are LOTS)--and it has some yummy recipes and fun crafts! :-D

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  4. Thanks so much for the advice Trishia. I will get the book you recommended. My husband is in agreement with this as we have discusses this before he left. He hates, however, that he is not here to do it with us, but is in full support. It is harder, however, for me to implement new things without him. But, I do feel the Lord instituted the feasts and holidays and as a Christian, it is important for us to keep them, regardless of our current circumstances. Thanks so much for your encouragement. I will let you know how things go!

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  5. That's so great that he's on board as well!

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