Celebration (:

Who doesn't like a good celebration? The kind where you are surrounded by people you love and have amazing friendships with. Where you consume enough delicious food to last you at least a week. Even when I just think of occasions like that I have to smile. But at the end of the night, everyone goes home, the foods put away, and you are alone. Of course this is such an earthly view of what a celebration looks like.

This devotional reminds me of the quote by Martin Luther, "Live as if Christ died yesterday, rose this morning, and is coming back tomorrow." If I truly lived like that wouldn't my life be a giant celebration? Wouldn't I be so excited to tell everyone I knew or even didn't know to come to a giant party celebrating who Jesus is and what He did for us? My life would be a celebration of His life. I want to live like that. Taking such joy every moment of every day in who Jesus is and what He was willing to do on the cross for us.

I love what Philippians 2:12 says. "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me." I'm never going to be perfect, no one is, but that isn't an excuse to stop or give up. We are children of God and when we are a living sacrifice for him we are being renewed everyday to look more like Him, to be more like His child. How can we not celebrate knowing the God of the universe calls us His children and loves us unconditionally?