Hello Dear Readers! Good to be with you as we near another one of YHVH’s appointed times.
What are you doing to prepare?
I put the above question out to a group recently, and I realized that many are not sure how to prepare for YHVH’s appointed times.
For most of us, myself included, following YHVH’s calendar is a new adventure, just knowing it exists feels like a real accomplishment!
I am no expert on the Appointed Times or in preparing for them, but I am glad to share a few ideas for getting started.
1) Study
This is by far the most important aspect of celebrating YHVH’s Appointed Times. Find out what the Bible says about the feast days. You can always find the beginning of a trail in Leviticus 23. Beyond that, doing a word search in Blue Letter Bible can help you find other places in the Bible where each feast is mentioned. I recommend gleaning as much from scripture as you can about each feast before using secondary sources.
2) Mark Your Calendar
Writing each of YHVH’s Appointed Times on your personal calendar will keep them from sneaking up on you.
3) Build Anticipation
A few weeks/days prior to each Appointed Time, begin planning. Are there any decorations that would get your home and family in the frame of mind to celebrate? Do you need to put in notice for time off from school or work? Perhaps there is a special menu to plan? Will you be celebrating as a party of one, with family, or with a body of believers? Is there an event space to rent, a house to prepare, or invitations to send?
4) Share
When you are excited about something, do you like to share? I sure do! Find someone with whom to share your excitement about YHVH’s Appointed Times. Invite others into your journey. My experience has been that if you provide food…people will come! It’s okay if you don’t get everything just right. Just be honest with folks. Let them know that you are learning, and invite them to join you.
These are simple ideas, perhaps, but you would laugh if I told you how many years it took me to get used to implementing them.
See, we seem to know how to build anticipation for secular holidays…
But we are sometimes unsure how to build anticipation for The Father’s Appointed Times.
While I am not necessarily an advocate for secular holidays, the anticipation process is similar.
It’s OKAY to get EXCITED about YHVH’s holidays!!
So, as I ask this question again, I hope you have a spark that could lead to some new ideas…
An Appointed Time will be here soon!
What are you doing to prepare?
To learn more about Shavuot, click here.