1 Samuel 30:16 (NKJV)
“And when he had brought him down, there they were, spread out over all the land, eating and drinking and dancing, because of all the great spoil which they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah.”

Celebration is good and we should celebrate, but while we live in this battle called life, we need to understand the concept and meaning of celebration, at least, from a pilgrim perspective. To do this, however, we need to ask some deeper questions.

Why do people celebrate? Here are a few reasons. People celebrate when they believe they have achieved their goals or an important milestone. People celebrate when they feel their hard work has paid off. People celebrate when others are celebrating or being celebrated.

How do people celebrate? People celebrate by singing, dancing, eating, and having much fun. In most celebrations, people spend a lot of resources on the event or the person being celebrated. Depending on the culture, celebrations can be very expensive and compromising.

As pilgrims, there is nothing wrong with celebrating and joining others who celebrate. Jesus Himself attended a wedding feast, and He must have joined in the celebration. So, celebrations are good, but as pilgrims, we need to be careful about two important things.

Firstly, do not celebrate evil or celebrate where evil is being promoted. There is so much celebration that is done to promote evil or to commemorate things that don’t glorify God. Therefore, it’s okay to celebrate, but choose carefully where and why you celebrate.

Secondly, how you celebrate is important. Some people lose their pilgrim status in the name of celebration. Because of the celebration, they join the world system and act like the world. They feel it’s okay to lose their spirituality because of a celebration. This is very wrong.

The Amalekites were celebrating their plunder. They had invaded and taken God’s people captive. They thought it was spectacular and worthy of rejoicing. They had no idea their celebration would be short-lived because it was an offense to God.

When we celebrate, let it bring God praise. When we celebrate, let it be to the glory of God. And when we can’t control how the celebration is managed, we need to stay alert so we don’t compromise our pilgrim status in the name of pleasing people.

@ChineduOranye
RestlessPilgrim.org