Exodus 34:23 Thrice in the year shall all your menchildren appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel.
These three pilgrimage festivals are Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles. It was a Jewish tradition held at the time of Christ. These traditions were handed down from father to son and may well have been the only time these men presented themselves before God.
This sounds vaguely familiar to a common practice among Christians in my youth. There were many that only went to church on the holidays, Christmas and Easter. What happened with these men in the 1st century and with my modern counterparts is a mystery. I know nothing about the lives of either.
That is problematic from our call to make disciples. God used the Pilgrimage Festival Pentecost to change the lives of the men that came to honor tradition and found the power of God alive before their eyes.
I don’t get to judge the lives of the two timers, for they did not invite me into their homes to observe their daily lives. I cannot imagine the thought process that said “Twice a year is enough for me.”
For that matter, is once a week enough? How about twice a week? Fellowship is about gathering together with fellow believers and encouraging and exhorting one another. Or is it? My views about what ought to happen are my observances not unlike the 1st century Jewish observances. They are my personal reasons.
Romans 14:22 Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth.
I have to live with myself. My relationship with my Lord is personal and I cannot expect anyone else to hold my traditions and festivals. Living a life of faith means allowing that faith to direct my actions, daily if not hourly.
What does your faith mean to you?