Nehemiah 8 - Joy

We don’t celebrate enough. We don’t. We’re so critical of ourselves and suspicious of how short term victories are that we fail to celebrate. Maybe this is in line with how we respond to most things, we make them about us. If we thought about victories as being God’s more than ours, we might release ourselves to celebrate them more. We might recognize God’s hand more, see His work as more obvious, and find more joy in the fact that God is good - and He is at work - in and around us.

“Nehemiah said, "Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength." – Nehemiah8:10

I love that Nehemiah not only gives permission to celebrate with food and drink, but to also bring others into the celebration. A sacred day to the Lord… is a day in which celebration is appropriate. And we honor God when we live in that freedom.

And here’s the kicker: The JOY of the LORD becomes our strength, not just our luxury, but our strength. The phrase, “is your strength”, comes from the Hebrew word ma`owz which literally means a “fortified place” and figuratively, “a defense”. It’s used interchangeably throughout scripture with the word “rock”.

Awesome.