Celebrate Early!

When I was a kid, no one dared to put up their Christmas tree and decorations before Thanksgiving. It was an unspoken rule, kinda like not wearing white after Labor Day -- which I actually never understood nor followed. (Seriously, why?) 

Anyhow, there were designated times to celebrate and these time frames were taken most seriously. No tree, no tinsel, no tunes. Yep, even the radio stations were careful to observe the time restraints. 

Not so the case today! For many out there, they are replacing their jack-o-lantern from Halloween with a blow up Santa on November 1. They are decking their halls with boughs of holly before the leaves outside have barely changed color and fallen. And radio stations are peppering in some holiday classics, weeks before we slice into our Butterball turkey on the fourth Thursday of November. It's a thing now, people! We are collectively deciding in this generation to celebrate early! Let's get this party started - like pronto!  5 weeks is just not enough time!

Though many disagree and long for traditional time frames, I think there might be something liberating in it and actually I think there is a general life lesson in our walk with God for us to learn in it: 

Start celebrating before it's actually acceptable to celebrate! 

Start rejoicing BEFORE everyone else gives the nod that it's okay to!

It's outside-the-box thinking and I think God loves it! He loves when we will believe Him so much and trust His Word so completely that we celebrate before the 'acceptable time,' before we even see an ounce of victory or see the answer worked out in the natural. It's the greatest kind of faith! It's the faith that says, "My God is able. My God is good. And if He says it, I believe it -- even before I see it! Woohoo!" It's the kind of declaration that comes from a heart that knows that God will never let them down. Never. 

Years ago, I remember hearing a sermon about the parting of the Red Sea. I remember the preacher saying, "Ya know, it was great that Miriam danced and shook her tambourine after God parted the waters. And it was wonderful that everyone rejoiced when they saw that God had come through for them. But they started rejoicing on the wrong side of the sea! They could have been celebrating early and started rejoicing before they witnessed His faithfulness, simply because they believed that God would not abandon them! They could have reasoned that there's no way that this was the end of their story! God was going to make a way!"

It's easy to celebrate after the fact. It's easy to rejoice when the answer is given. It's a whole other thing to give thanks before the answer is tangibly in our hands. But if we know God won't let us down, and we know what He has said and promised us, why not 'put up that tree and those holiday lights' early? Let's get celebrating!