If you love others you will…
Celebrate Life
Jesus made a habit of celebrating life. His very first miracle was turning water into wine at a wedding feast. He loved life and it was contagious. When people were too tired to walk home after listening to him, without eating, he decided to invited five thousand of them to a picnic where he provided all the free seafood they could eat. He knew how unbelievably precious life was and every day became a celebration. If you really love others as Jesus did you will turn your life into party.
My mom’s nickname was “happy.” Sundays at our house was one big party in our little three bedroom ranch. She would invite all the lonely guys in church over to our house that worked at the local Air Force base for lunch as well as almost anyone else who wanted to come. We had a crowd almost every week—twelve to fifteen people. The truth is we had a crowd everyday ‘cause mom had six kids. She would make fried chicken, green beans and biscuits and gravy and banana pudding for desert. But, the food wasn’t the main attraction—it was my mom’s bubbly personality. She made everyone feel like our home was their home and she was their adopted mom. Sunday was exciting because we never knew who was going to show up and we never knew how many. To mom it didn’t matter how many. What mattered was making each one feel loved and cared for. They flocked to our house like ducks to a pond because mom celebrated life—big time. I always wondered as I got older how we could afford to feed all those people.
It’s so easy to lose our joy and excitement about life. It times you may feel like life is just routine and way too monotonous. If your letting that happen you have forgotten how much God enjoys doing the same things over and over and over again. G. K. Chesterton, a prolific English writer penned these words, “Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, “Do it again”; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, “Do it again” to the sun; and every evening, “Do it again” to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we.” God celebrates life right before our eyes every day.
No one likes to be around a downer. When people get so “low” they need a ladder to pick strawberries no one wants to hang with them. Life is tough enough without hanging around people who don’t like life. If you want to love and influence others—start celebrating. Celebrate the sunrise and the sunset. Celebrate every meal as a gift from God. Celebrate every friendship. Kick up your heels and whoop it up. Go on a joy spree. Throw a party. Kill the fatted calf and invite someone over to eat it with you. Live everyday the way Jesus did. He knew how precious life was and he celebrated life to the max.
If you love others you will celebrate life.