14 “Three times a year you are to celebrate a festival to me.

15 “Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread; for seven days eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you. Do this at the appointed time in the month of Aviv, for in that month you came out of Egypt.

“No one is to appear before me empty-handed.

16 “Celebrate the Festival of Harvest with the firstfruits of the crops you sow in your field.

“Celebrate the Festival of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in your crops from the field.

17 “Three times a year all the men are to appear before the Sovereign Lord.

18 “Do not offer the blood of a sacrifice to me along with anything containing yeast.

“The fat of my festival offerings must not be kept until morning.

19 “Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the Lord your God.

“Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk. Exodus 23:14-19

Three Festivals.come alongside the Sabbath day of rest.

They were times when the entire commmunity would leave their hard work to come together to celebrate.

God knows that some have a tendency to overwork. It’s true now and it was true then. So, the Lord is forcing them again to take a break from what they were doing.

He’s forcing them to celebrate God’s goodness to them.

• Unleavened bread would remind them of what they escaped;
• Harvest would remind them to sacrifice their firstfruits;
• and Ingathering would remind them of the Lord’s bounty.

Even though we don’t celebrate these three festivals today as Christians, we can certainly appreciate them.

Most churches and Believers celebrate communion regularly to remember what He’s done, so we do stop and reminded ourselves of its importance. It’s not as flashy and celebratory as one of their Festivals probably was, but gives us time to reflect.